Jamie
Santa Rosa County, FL
When her non-profit employer downsized in March 2020, Jamie lost her job and her ability to pay the monthly premium for her private insurance plan. Without income, she no longer qualified for a federal subsidy for her Affordable Care Act insurance policy.
Like many Floridians, Jaime Estep, had her life turned upside down by COVID-19.
When her non-profit employer downsized in March 2020, Jamie lost her job and her ability to pay the monthly premium for her private insurance plan. Without income, she no longer qualified for a federal subsidy for her Affordable Care Act insurance policy.“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Jaime says. “You’re in that place where you go, “How can I afford $500 a month to pay for private health insurance?”
Thankfully, she qualified for Medicaid. It was literally a lifeline for Jamie, a cancer survivor.
“It’s so important for everyone to have health care when they need it,” Jaime says. “Expanding Medicaid gives people hope.”
Jaime was fortunate. As the mother of a child under 18, and with little income at the time, she met Florida’s extremely strict criteria for Medicaid. Florida is one of 12 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid, limiting the medical safety net program to pregnant women, the disabled and very low-income parents. This year, the state has the opportunity to expand Medicaid to working poor Floridians with the federal government paying 100 percent of the costs under the American Rescue Plan. If Florida expanded Medicaid, more than 1 million Florida residents would qualify and have access to affordable health care in a pandemic.
Medicaid was there for Jaime when she contracted COVID-19 and got very sick. And Medicaid covered her when she experienced severe pelvic pain and faced a serious health scare.Six years ago Jaime was diagnosed with colon cancer, a malady that runs in her family. When severe pain came on suddenly, she worried the cancer had returned or that she had developed life-threatening blood clots from the coronavirus infection.
“Expanding Medicaid in Florida will save lives,” Jaime says.
“Why wouldn’t Florida officials want to do that?”
Luckily it appears it was only a scare, possibly from scar tissue from her colon cancer surgery, though she will need follow- up tests to determine the cause of her chronic pain and abnormal bleeding. Her Medicaid healthcare covered her emergency room visit, specialist consultations and the diagnostic tests she needed to assure her health was secure. For now.
Jaime needs to stay healthy to help support her family. She knows she’s at higher risk because of her family’s history of cancer. She also wants to urge others to get life-saving annual exams and screening tests, like mammograms and colonoscopies. Without access to affordable healthcare, however, she knows it's out of reach for many.“Expanding Medicaid in Florida will save lives,” Jaime says. “Why wouldn’t Florida officials want to do that?”
Her medical struggles have inspired her to return to school to get a degree in healthcare management. She hopes her own experiences and frustrations as a patient will make her more empathetic to others’ struggles in the healthcare system, including discrimination by one physician who was dismissive of her pain.
“As a low-income single mother I’ve had to advocate for myself, and my healthcare, for too long,” Jaime says. “There has to be a change.”Read STORIES Of Other Floridians
Relying On Medicaid
We are grateful to the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) for their support of the
"Medicaid | The Lived Experience" STORIES Project.
The Florida Health Justice Project, a nonprofit organization, recognizes that access to quality and affordable health care is a human right and engages in comprehensive advocacy to expand health care access and promote health equity for vulnerable Floridians.
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL FREE WITHIN THE STATE AT 1-800-435-7352 . IT CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT WWW.800HELPFLA.COM. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE STATE.