The health insurance safety net for thousands of Nevada kids will likely remain in place. A legislative subcommittee has voted to fund Nevada Check-Up to ensure coverage for kids whose parents can't provide private health insurance.
Sean Melaerts knows he's not unique. An electrician by trade, he lost his job six months ago. He says he doesn't worry about health coverage for himself but his 10-year-old son Tye has diabetes and finding services for him has become his new full-time job.
"Tye will you get me a new needle please?" Sean Melaerts tries to inject a little humor into his son's morning routine. Tye was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 6-years-old. Father and son have struggled to manage Tye's disease.
"It's another job basically and I'm the only one who knows how to do it, other than the doctor," Sean Melaerts said. He lost his paying job six months ago and without a steady income, the $500 dollars a month he needs to pay for Tye's diabetes supplies may as well be $5 million.
"It's a day to day struggle to try to get the medicine and to try to even let him survive."
The family has no health coverage so Melaerts has turned to social programs for assistance. His latest application is to Nevada Check Up, the state funded health insurance program for children. Tye he hopes is among the 30,000 plus kids who are eligible but have not yet enrolled.
"We were at 30, 31,000 kids," said Mike Willden, the director of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
"Our economy has also caused us to slow our enrollment. We don't have enough money to talk about a cap on Check Up and those kinds of things. We've lost some positions in Check Up and haven't been able to process applications as timely," Willden said.
He insists that it currently takes 30 to 35 days to process Check Up applications. Nearly 3,000 working families seek assistance every month.
"There are a lot more families having to access the system that have never accessed the system. And it is new, it is foreign and it probably is difficult," Willden said.
The message for Melaerts and others like him is to not give up.
"I've heard it all before and nothing ever pans out," Melaerts said. He claims four months have passed since his Check Up application and he still hasn't received word. He adds making a follow up call to the state on his morning to do list.
"There's no one to cry to. You just have to do what you have to do to move on," he said.
Willden tells the I-Team that a four month wait is irregular and encourages Melaerts to follow up. He insists coverage for children is available through the state with Nevada Check Up or with Medicaid.
Click here to email reporter Colleen McCarty.
