Valerie Ibarra-Figueroa, right, a health insurance specialist at the Venice Family Clinic, speaks to public social services on behalf of Jessica Sanchez, whose Medicaid was wrongfully terminated right at the end of her pregnancy.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Canned music droned from the telephone as Jessica Sanchez waited, fidgeting and shifting her pregnant belly in her chair at the Santa Monica community health center.
It had been an hour since Sanchez and a Venice Family Clinic worker had dialed up a Los Angeles County agency for help. At a prenatal appointment, Sanchez, 33, had abruptly discovered that her health coverage had been cut off months earlier. The news rattled Sanchez, who was already in her third trimester.
A looping recorded voice repeatedly told her, “Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line.” Sanchez checked her phone, then pulled out a bundle of pastel yarn and resumed crocheting for the baby boy she is expecting.
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