Jonathan Hale

When an Apple a Day Isn't Enough: Students Speak Out About Health Coverage
To generate awareness among America's youth about the importance of health care coverage, Families USA and the Campaign for Children's Health Care sponsored a national essay contest for youth between the ages of 9-18. More than 4,500 students submitted stories nationwide, and one winner was chosen from each state. The essay below by Jonathan Hale and the other winning essays highlight the importance of SCHIP and all were written by youth who directly benefited from the program.

After the tragic day of September 11th, the economy changed. My father's employer decided to cut back on employees. I will always remember the day my father pulled his car in the driveway with tears in his eyes. My dad told us that he had just lost his job. I was so scared. I was 15 at the time. It was the end of the school year. It was warm and sunny outside, but I had this really cold feeling inside.

My mom was crying in the kitchen, so my brothers and I went outside. We were playing basketball and we decided that we needed to do something to help the family. We opened our own business, called Jon and Casey's Pet and Plant Service. The next day we distributed our business fliers through out the neighborhood. I was shocked on how much money we made that summer mowing lawns, and take care of neighbor's pets.

My brothers Casey and Christopher and I were busy with our business. That changed abruptly one day. I woke up with an excruciating headache. The headache didn't go away. The first few days I didn't complain that much because my mom's best friend from Michigan had come to visit and we were going to the Jersey shore to visit my grandparents.

The ride to New Jersey was a long drive from New Hampshire, but lying down in the back of the van made my head feel better. When we got there, we went on my grandfather's boat for a short ride. I jumped into the water. I only remember the pain being so bad. I held my head and started screaming. My mom and her friend hoisted me into the boat and we went back to my grandparent's house. The pain was so bad; I had to crawl on the ground. My mom drove me to the medical center. I was still in my wet bathingsuit and so was my mom. I remember my mom calling my dad on the cell phone while we were in the car and asking the question "do we still have medical insurance?"

The medical center did some tests, and then transported me by ambulance to a larger hospital. I remember being really scared. My mom was crying again. When we got to the second hospital, the doctors there did all kinds of scans on my head. Hours later my mom and I saw a bunch of doctors talking together. Then one doctor approached my mom and introduced himself as Head of Neurology. He explained that I had an Arachnoid Cyst about the size of an ice cube growing on the left hand side of my brain. My mother stated to cry again. I can't explain why, but I wasn't that scared. I told my mom not to worry. I told her they could probably take it out. I asked her if I could get a Mohawk haircut. That made her laugh which was really cool, because my mom hadn't laughed in a long time. The doctors sent us home with pain killers and set up an appointment with a neurosurgeon the next morning.

My dad drove to New Jersey and we saw the neurosurgeon. My parents decided that they wanted to take me to a larger hospital in Boston. There was another problem; our insurance coverage had ended. Going to the hospital and having all of the CAT scans and MRI testing was super expensive. Suddenly, insurance was a huge issue.

Friends told us about a program called New Hampshire Healthy Kids. My parents had to act quickly and register my brothers and me for the program. The people at NHHK were really helpful. I was able to get the medical attention I needed. The doctors decided not to operate, but to monitor the growth of the cyst over time. I realized then how important it is to have health insurance and how lucky my family and I were to be covered by New Hampshire Healthy Kids. It is so ironic that I became sick at the same time that we lost our insurance. I am so thankful for the New Hampshire Healthy Kids program because it allowed my family to get the best medical attention for me. My situation would have been much different if we were not covered by medical insurance. Medical insurance is vital for families.