During the Great Recession, the Los Angeles Unified School District was forced to lay off teachers. Silvia Ruiz of Canoga Park was one of those who lost her classroom.
“I was so unhappy,” says Silvia. “I was getting a little bit of work as a substitute, but I wanted my own class. I wanted to be a part of changing children’s lives. Then a friend suggested that I open up my own daycare business.” So that’s what Silvia did. And she loves it.
After her COBRA period ran out on her school district insurance, Silvia tried to hang on to the same health plan. She really needed the insurance to help cover the medication she required for chronic stomach pain. But the company denied her because she had a pre-existing condition.
Silvia went without insurance for seven years. When her stomach pains would become severe every few months, she would take over-the-counter medication. If she needed a “well woman” exam, she would visit the local Planned Parenthood.
Silvia works in a very physical industry. Child care providers have injury rates double that of other workers. But they don’t get sick days. They don’t have access to workers’ compensation. And it wasn’t long before it caught up to Silvia.
“When you’re picking up infants and toddlers all day, putting them in cribs, rocking them in your arms—it’s hard on your body. I ended up with really bad lower back pain,” says Silvia. “I used ice. I used heat. I couldn’t bend or sit for a while. I’m sure I was straining myself every day and probably making it worse. I went to bed as soon as the last child left at 6:30. Finally, I went to an el sobador [special traditional healer from Mexico] to see if that would help, and thank God it did because I didn’t have insurance and I had to keep working.”
Silvia was able to get Obamacare in 2014. Then, in 2016, her stomach pain got more severe and more frequent. The doctors finally figured out that it was Silvia’s gall bladder—and it had to come out. She had the surgery last year.
“I feel so much better now,” says Silvia. “What would I have done without insurance? I couldn’t pay for even a small fraction of that surgery.”
Silvia worries about the changes to our healthcare system that Congress is considering. “I’m going to have to get out that emotions book I use with the children to try to stay calm,” she says. “I have so much peace of mind now that I have health coverage. I don’t want to go back to those days without access to good doctors. And I would estimate that 99% of the children and families I serve have either Medi-Cal or Obamacare. What’s going to happen to all of us?”
