MARYSVILLE — The medical costs of caring for Brenna Krug, a 6-year-old who has cystic fibrosis, mount almost faster than her mother, Brandy Krug, can explain them:
$20,000 a year for a device to help clear her lungs;
$2,200 a month for medicine to help her breathe;
and as many as three costly surgical procedures a year.
Added altogether, the medical tab for caring for Brenna runs close to $200,000 a year.
Little wonder that her 25-year-old mother, who was laid off from her job in November, is such an outspoken advocate for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the government health insurance program that helps pay her daughter’s medical costs.
When she heard that the U.S. Senate was debating whether to continue funding and expand the program, Krug said her first thought was: “What would I do if I didn’t have this program?”
So Krug responded to the national Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s request that families write their federal lawmakers about the importance of the program. Although Krug said she couldn’t remember ever writing to a member of Congress before, she sent an e-mail to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Lawmakers are debating whether to add about $31.5 billion to the program. If approved, that would mean an additional 5,700 children in Washington could be covered by the program.
Nationally about 6.7 million children now get medical care through the program, including 13,500 in Washington.
The program provides medical care to children whose parents have incomes high enough to disqualify them from a Medicaid program but who don’t have the resources for private insurance.
Krug said she didn’t think much more about the message she sent to the other Washington until Tuesday, when she was contacted by Murray’s office.
They asked for permission to use her daughter’s story in a speech Wednesday morning, when Murray urged her Senate colleagues to approve funding for the program.
“I was very honored, very proud,” Krug said. “This is the way to open up people’s eyes about cystic fibrosis. Not too many people know about the disease.”
Cystic fibrosis a genetic disease that causes mucus to build up in the lungs and block the airways. “It’s life-shortening,” Krug said. “It has no cure.”
Brenna’s health care costs are about 10 times more than the average child and it’s nearly impossible to get private health insurance to cover her bills, Murray said.
Nearly half of all children with the disease wouldn’t have health care at all if they didn’t have help paying medical bills from the federal government, Murray said.
“When a child gets a cut that requires stitches, has a fever or an earache or develops a serious disease, like cystic fibrosis, they should be able to get health care — period,” Murray said.
Krug said when she first heard an Internet clip of Murray’s speech, “it brought tears to my eyes.
“It meant a lot to me and a lot to (Brenna) to spread awareness and help other children,” her mother said. “It’s not just about us and our family” but other families whose children may be battling life-threatening diseases of their own, she said.
“What’s important is children get the medical help and care they need,” she added.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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