In it together
Wendy & Noah Mille
Like so many families, Wendy Miller has taken hits from today's economy. Last year, Wendy was laid off from her job, forcing her to grapple with the reality of how to provide for her 6-year-old son, Noah, and herself. "As a single mother faced with losing health insurance I was definitely in a stressful situation," Wendy said.
For a short time, Wendy kept her head above water through severance pay, and kept health coverage through COBRA benefits, although expensive. "Once my severance pay and COBRA benefits ran out, there was a lot of uncertainties around getting health coverage for Noah should something come up," she said. "Staying informed was how I dealt with the stress, that's how I learned about Healthy Kids."
Wendy kept up on the news and saw that Healthy Kids was expanded to cover even more Oregon families in 2009, but it wasn't until she received a Healthy Kids flyer from Noah's school that she decided to give it a try. Wendy applied for Healthy Kids and was accepted into the low-cost option – paying an affordable premium for the care Noah now receives.
"It was a great feeling to get Noah covered. He's 6-years-old, and can play rough – so the peace of mind was huge. I was also able to set up a dentist appointment and an eye doctor appointment. It gave me such relief."
