There is Medicare for people over 65 and Medicaid for those without the means to contribute to their insurance. The Sarabias only recently found that their two younger children qualify for aid under the state's Child Health and Disability Prevention Program. Most working adults do not qualify for Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. Yet their children are often eligible for Medi-Cal or the state's Healthy Families program. California officials have begun petitioning the federal government to open up Healthy Families to the parents of eligible children.
Undocumented immigrants steer clear of government programs for fear of being deported.
Maria Sarabia gave up trying to figure out the 28-page Healthy Families application, which has since been revised to four pages. Critics curse the waste in the system. But critics say the asset test is pointless because few families are found to be ineligible. Many states have waived it entirely, as has California for pregnant women and some children. When she's not working, Maria Sarabia is figuring out how to pay medical bills.