Oct 18, 2007 8:04 pm US/Eastern
Millions Of Working Poor Left Without Insurance
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The House of Representatives failed to override President Bush's veto of a bill to provide health insurance for the children of the working poor.
It leaves over 1 million kids and their parents without coverage.
For Syeebra Palmer, it is a constant heartache.
"Flu season is coming," Palmer said. "Accidents happen … God forbid, what if something catastrophic happens?"
An unemployed widow raising two young daughters in Sicklerville, N.J., Palmer will no longer be covered by the state children's health insurance plan or "s-chip," unless Congress does something.
And with a monthly income of $2,800, she can't afford $1,000 a month for private insurance.
"You're forcing us to pick between food on the table and making sure my kids are able to go to the doctor when they need to," Palmer said. "That's a choice no parent should have to make."
Palmer's medical worries are real. Her 2-year-old daughter Marisa already shows signs of the asthma that killed her father Maurice.
"That petrifies me," Palmer said, "that my daughter could go without care due to a chronic illness that resulted in her father's death."
Her other daughter, 5-year-old Brianna, has a hernia. She was supposed to get surgery in six months but that will probably now have to be postponed.
"I don't think it's very fair," Palmer said. "I think that people have to realize there are real people that are affected by this.
President Bush has assigned three top advisors to try to negotiate a compromise with Congress but Democrats want $30 billion more than the president is willing to spend.
The head of Local 1199 of the United Health Care Workers union, said the failure to override the president's veto was quote "sad and disappointing" for millions seeking health care coverage for their children.
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