Sometimes when you don't have health insurance, finding affordable coverage for your kids seems impossible.  I know this firsthand because when my husband changed jobs three years ago, we lost our health insurance. I was so worried that our children didn't have health insurance.

We learned about Healthy Families at a clinic in Berkeley. Applying for it was easy. We just filled out a form at the clinic and showed a paycheck stub as proof of our family’s income. The insurance was affordable as it was based on our income.

My husband and I pay $32 a month to cover our two kids, a 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. For the last two or three years, they have been covered by Healthy Families and receive care at Kaiser Permanente, which is also very good.

For kids with no healthcare coverage, I highly recommend the program Healthy Families.  Also, thanks to health insurance reform, even children whose parents make too much to qualify for healthy families coverage can get coverage through private insurance companies even if they were previously denied due to a pre-existing condition like diabetes.  And some counties provide health services to children regardless of immigration status.

The time to find coverage is right now.  Between now and March 1, parents with uninsured children can lock in lower premiums on private insurance-- even if the kids have pre-existing conditions like diabetes or asthma.

To find out about available private and public health care coverage check out:http://finder.healthcare.gov/

With so many options, there is no reason for children in California not to have health insurance. Enroll today!

Guillermina Ruiz lives with her family in Richmond, California. Para leer este artículo en español, añade este link.