Testimony for HB387 Increase CHIP Eligibility to 200% FP

Chairman Sinrud and members of the committee:  For the record, my name is Moe Wosepka. I currently serve as Executive Director of the Montana Catholic Conference.  The Montana Catholic Conference is the public policy arm for the two Catholic Bishops in Montana.  There are over 140,000 Catholics in the two Dioceses statewide. 

For the past 10 years I worked for Good Samaritan Ministries in Helena.  Our ministry was to the poor and homeless, the forgotten in our nursing homes, and the ignored in our prisons and jails.  It is from this perspective that I speak to you today. 

Working families in this group are typically undereducated and disadvantaged by a variety of factors.  These include training, education, family support, addictions, as well as physical and mental disabilities.

This group probably more than others suffers from health concerns.  The question arises with many of these families.  Are they poor because they have health problems, or do they have health problems because they are poor?

I think to a degree the answer to both questions is yes.  It was evident to me in my work, that low-income persons have significantly greater health problems. Although this is not the point of the bill, it does lead us to what the bill addresses.

Low-income families are typically more dependent on access to health care and therefore more apt to be trapped in current government programs that provide access to health care.

Many of the clients I worked with would love to have a job that provided a livable wage and benefits including health insurance.  They would love to be able to make it on their own, and not be subject to the requirements to receive government assistance.  Sometimes the process is very demeaning. And believe me; I would not want to go through it.  Likewise many of the clients I had did not want to either.

The problem is that as people work their way up in the income ladder they run into a point where benefits end, and they are totally on their own. This may be a 25-cent per hour raise, which in a 40 hour per week job would gross approximately $40 a month, net someplace in the $34.00 range. They could loose several hundred dollars per month of day care, housing allowance, food stamps and other benefits.  I have often seen clients face a loss of several hundred dollars per month for each raise they accept.  By far the biggest problem is health coverage however.  Medications alone could run several hundred dollars, and access to Doctors is denied to those without health care, except in the emergency room.  People who need medical care and medications on a regular basis cannot survive without these services. They know it. Some of them have tried. 

When faced with getting a raise, working more hours or finding a second job to make ends meet they often face a greater risk of loss of health coverage.  More often than not the prudent decision to protect their family is to go back on the system where health coverage is available.  In fact they are sometimes advised by their caseworkers to cut back on their work so as to retain benefits especially health coverage. 

Expanding the income level for CHIP is a positive move toward allowing these families who would like to escape welfare to work their way towards self-reliance without the fear of losing access to health care. The Montana Catholic Conference stands in support of HB387, and we urge a do pass. 

Contact information:  Moe Wosepka, Executive Director Montana Catholic Conference, 1301 11th Ave, Helena, Mt.   Phone 442-5761.