Silvia Naranjo, a janitor, knows what it's like not to have health insurance. It means fearing your kids getting sick -- or needing a trip to the dentist.

Naranjo's one of the lucky ones -- she now has health insurance, through her job as a unionized commercial office cleaner. Which is a blessing: her 2 year-old has been diagnosed with a rare disorder that prevents him from walking.

Naranjo told her story Thursday night to a state panel looking into the state's health-care system. The panel -- the Healthfirst Connecticut Authority -- is holding hearings throughout Connecticut over the next two weeks to hear the stories of people like Naranjo. The goal is to come up with ideas for financing affordable health care for the hundreds of thousands who either don't have insurance or are underinsured. The charge from the legislature in creating the authority included to :examine and evaluate different alternatives for providing Connecticut residents with quality, affordable, and sustainable health care, including a single payer health care system and employer-sponsored health plans." For a schedule of the rest of the hearings, click here.

Naranjo attended Thursday night's hearing In Norwalk. Following is her testimony:

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Good evening. My name is Silvia Naranjo, and I live and work in Stamford.

I'm here tonight to tell you how fortunate I feel to work at a union job that provides family health care coverage.

I remember working without health insurance - one dentist visit cost me $600.

Now, with two children, health care coverage has truly become a blessing I never thought I'd need so much.

My two-year-old son, Jaidon, was recently diagnosed with Leigh's syndrome. It's a rare neuro disorder that affects his cells and muscles. The doctor's diagnosed the problem after Jaidon stopped walking last year.

I regularly take Jaidon to New York City for tests and treatment with specialists at Columbia University's Presbyterian Hospital.

It's not easy being a single-mother caring for a sick child. No mother wants to see her child suffer.

But at least I don't have to worry about how I'm going to pay for his treatment.

I remember that $600 dentist visit every time we go to the doctor now, and I just can't imagine how I'd be able to get Jaidon the treatment he needs if I didn't have insurance.
Health care coverage is a blessing to my family, but it shouldn't be a luxury. Every mother in Connecticut should be able to take her kids - and herself - to the doctor without worrying about how they'll pay the bill.