she will have. Picture it: Sherry's thin, nervous, 61, a home health care worker and "deeply worried" about a lot of health problems. In a public library Sherry sits with a "Navigator" whose laptop is going to discover if she qualifies for health insurance.
Suddenly, "within a minute," words that cause her to weep: "Eligible for Medicaid!" Obamacare just changed her life!
Weeping with relief she realized she could now see a doctor about a painful lump on her hand and several other medical concerns. Like all home health care workers, Sherry works hard I'll bet and at $9 an hour probably just gets by if she's lucky, or doesn't if she's not. And certainly cannot afford health insurance. She may have never had it in all her life!
A few items of information in a Kentucky library, only one of which is at all health related, "does she smoke?" That's all it took, just a few minutes, because Kentucky's Democratic governor, in a deeply red state, went ahead and accepted the federal Medicaid expansion under the ACA. Unlike Republican governors of Florida and Texas, and some 20 other states with many, many millions of uninsured citizens, probably most of whom work or are children or poor retired seniors (like me) living on Social Security.
Behind nyt "wall" -- here's a pdf front page view.
UPDATED --thanks to comments by Drobin and Patricia Lil: For Uninsured, Clearing a Way for Enrollment
Within a minute, the system checked her information and flashed its conclusion on Ms. Cauley's laptop: eligible for Medicaid. The woman began to weep with relief. Without insurance, she said as she left, "it's cheaper to die."
Known as "navigators" or "assisters," people like Ms Cauley are going to work across the country, searching for the uninsured and walking them through the enrollment process.
Thank God for a Democratic governor in Kentucky, Republican state of Senators Mitch
the Rich Mealy Mouth Turtle McConnell and Rand
The Plagiarizing Duelist Paul.
And for several Republican governors who have bucked their Party and taken the ACA Medicaid Expansion for their states. Unlike my own Florida Governor Rick the Horrible-No-Good Scott, and Texas Governor Rick The Horrible-Ummm, I forget Perry who have not accepted the Medicaid Expansion.
Yes, Sherry (not her real name), you are in the NEW Kentucky!
Whereas in the Old Kentucky it was "cheaper to just die," the NEW Kentucky provides health care for unfortunate working people whose pay is so low they could not afford health care.
In the Old Kentucky, low wage workers had to rely on ER visits or an occasional free clinic (if any), for any help at all with their health problems.
Now, you hard working Kentuckians, thanks to DEMOCRATS, can breath a sigh of relief. Go on, go ahead and weep, because you can now go see a doctor and get treatment for your health problems!
Now, you Kentuckians, because of Democrats, you don't have to just go ahead and die!
Because you had a President, Barack Obama, whom many of you despise, you can weep because you NOW, because of Democrats you perhaps revile, have health insurance.
You're welcome, Kentucky.
UPDATE: Another great TRUE story from the article I've now seen all of. If this beleageured WORKING MAN's story doesn't break your heart what will? A 60 year old advanced stage diabetic man with kidney disease, earns $22,000/year from his business cannot afford a private plan. Not eligible for Medicaid he can get a $252/mo subsidy because of the ACA to help him afford one of the 24 health plans he can choose among (premiums run $92 to 500/mo).
Bleeding at the back of his eyes, caused by a complication of diabetes, had blurred his vision. He had run out of insulin the previous week and had not refilled his prescriptions, which cost almost $500 a month, because a recent tax bill had depleted his bank account. He had an appointment with an eye specialist that afternoon, and the possibility of more debt was hanging heavily over him..... snip
A few days later, in the kitchen of his small home here, he contemplated the dusty box of bills at his feet and wondered whether January would truly be a turning point in his fortunes. A hospitalization in May had sharply increased his debt.
“I’m hoping once I have insurance that I can sit down and figure out a budget and see if I have to bankrupt,” he said..... snip
“It’s not a fact that I want to sponge off of somebody,” he said. “I want to be able to pay my bills and be able to go through life without feeling I owe somebody.”
Thanks for the Rec List, giving attention to successful Kentucky's ACA rollout of Medicaid Expansion under the ACA, Obamacare plan!
Thanks to Dvalkure for pointing out the possible misinterpretation of the diary's original title.
