I am a teaming up with Allies for Children and Moms Rising to promote the Healthy Together campaign, which aims to cover 100 percent of children and youth in the City of Pittsburgh with quality, affordable health insurance. This is a sponsored post, however all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.

Growing Pains

As parents, we know all too well that the holiday season can get crazy busy. Money and time runs tight and things fall to the wayside. We promise ourselves we’ll get to that sticky shelf in the refrigerator or the laundry piled up downstairs.

However, one thing we can’t put off is our children’s health.

As mothers, we like to think we can protect our children from anything and everything. We put padding around those coffee table corners and install childproof locks. “Slow down!” is often met with deaf ears and sometimes accidents happen. Unfortunately, there’s no bubble big enough that will keep our kids from getting hurt; it’s all part of growing up.

Oh, Boy!

As the mother of an active little boy, I hold my breath and bite my nails as I watch him zoom around without training wheels. I’ve spent my fair share of time beside him in the doctors office as he’s endured shots, stitches, check-ups and everything in between.

I recall the morning my son woke up wheezing with a high temperature. He was having difficulty breathing and my stomach sank as my heart thumped wildly in my chest.

There’s nothing worse than seeing your child in pain.

We rushed to the ER where we were met by a team of nurses and doctors who were able to take excellent care of my son and get the help he needed.

I couldn’t imagine if we wouldn’t have health care. It would have been weighing on my mind heavily, but instead my attention was where it needed to be… on my son. The co-payment was minimal and his prescription medications were covered by his insurance. If it had not been for the health coverage, we would have had to of paid several hundred dollars out of pocket.

Did you know… ? Medical bills are one of the biggest causes of bankruptcy.

Pittsburgh’s Healthy Together Campaign

Are you setting health and wellness goals for the New Year? You don’t have to wait until January 1st to start the things you want to do in 2015… you can do that today! Especially when it comes to the health and safety of your children.

Pittsburgh is setting a lofty (yet attainable) goal to see that 100% of Pittsburgh children have quality health insurance in 2015. Through the Healthy Together campaign, Pittsburgh is committed to enrolling all Pittsburgh children and youth in quality, no- to low-cost health care programs, like Medicaid and CHIP.

Quality health insurance enables children to not only have access to medical treatments, but also preventative care.

I recently had a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Healthy Together campaign. I was also able to meet some of the wonderful people the Healthy Together campaign has helped and organizations working together to implement it – including representatives from the Office of Mayor William Peduto, Allies for Children, the Allegheny County Health Department and the Consumer Health Coalition.

Ways You Can Help

Healthy Together is committed to enrolling all Pittsburgh children and youth in quality, no- to low-cost healthcare programs, like Medicaid and CHIP. If you or someone you know has children who need coverage, make an appointment today for free enrollment assistance with the Consumer Health Coalition.  Dial 2-1-1 or Visit GetEnrolledPgh.com for more information.