Still can’t get health coverage
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Editor,
I am a soon-to-be 53-year-old that lives in Big Arm. I have lived here for almost four years and really enjoy living in this state, except for one thing: I can’t afford health care coverage and have been denied coverage through Medicaid because Montana has rejected the federal funding to expand Medicaid.
I went online to Healthcare.gov and went through the whole signing up thing. After a very tedious and lengthy process, I met all the requirements and awaited my results as to which coverage I’d get. Needless to say, I was pretty excited because I haven’t had health care coverage for some time. Results stated that I was eligible but that the state of Montana denied me coverage of any kind, because it didn’t expand Medicaid, which I met the requirements to obtain. I was and am still devastated by the news.
I am an African American male whose family history has fallen into all the major health at risk areas that our culture is recognized to be threatened by. In the past 15 years, both sides of my family, my father's and my mother's, have lost 10 members to cancer, diabetes, heart failure, stroke and high blood pressure. My favorite uncle became the latest victim to cancer just a month ago. My hero, my dad, is recovering and making a strong come back from thyroid cancer and prostate as well. I had to go Denver and be with this great man as he endured the pains of radiation treatment. No child should have to watch their parents go through any type of cancer treatment, all the while praying that it doesn’t hit me or come my way. My dad and uncle were covered; unfortunately, I am not. I am at the age where I need quarterly check ups and yearly doctor visits, but I can’t afford them. I am a man of faith who trusts in the power of God but I am also a man who has seen disease hit his family hard. I wonder if I’ll be ready if it should come my way. Right now I’m not. I need help. I need health care coverage — now, not tomorrow.
Keith Edmonson
Big Arm
