Just Don't Get Sick: Access to Health Care in the Aftermath of Welfare Reform

by Karen Seccombe, Kim A. Hoffman

The ability to obtain health care is fundamental to the security, stability, and well-being of poor families. Government-sponsored programs provide temporary support, but as families leave welfare for work, they find themselves without access to coverage or care. The low-wage jobs that individuals in transition are typically able to secure provide few benefits yet often disqualify employees from receiving federal aid.

Drawing upon statistical data and in-depth interviews with over five hundred families in Oregon, Karen Seccombe and Kim Hoffman assess the ways in which welfare reform affects the well-being of adults and children who leave the program for work. We hear of asthmatic children whose uninsured but working mothers cannot obtain the preventive medicines to keep them well, and stories of pregnant women receiving little or no prenatal care who end up in emergency rooms with life-threatening conditions.

Representative of poor communities nationwide, the vivid stories recounted here illuminate the critical relationship between health insurance coverage and the ability to transition from welfare to work.

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2007

About the author

1998-present, Professor, Department of Sociology, Portland State University

1992 - 1998, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Florida
Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Health Policy Research, University of Florida

1988 - 1992, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Florida
Assistant Research Scientist, Institute for Health Policy Research, University of Florida

1986 - 1988, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage

Reviews

[Karah]

A sociology student would benefit from this book. (I read this on my initiative.) I would have preferred more anecdotes. I've read Seccombe before and this book seemed impersonal.

[Jenny]

Ever wonder what health care is like in Oregon? For the low income hard working poor? Community health and finances are linked strongly and this read depicts why and how.

[Min]

Very interesting book. I like the points of view, though at times, unless you're a die-hard fan of issues related to public health, the book can be a bit dry.