STORIES
STORIES
Floridians Struggling With
Mental & Physical Illness
Need Medicaid Expansion
Floridians with physical and mental illness face significant obstacles in accessing necessary and appropriate health care. In fact, well over half of adults with mental illness in Florida do not receive treatment. For many of these individuals, not having health insurance is the major barrier to care.
The Storytellers
Miami, FL
Tiara has overcome many challenges in her life but without affordable healthcare she cannot get the preventive care and treatment she needs to address her health concerns.
Miami Beach, FL
Living without healthcare takes a terrible toll on Florida residents. Without expanded Medicaid, options for basic preventative care and mental health services are limited and too expensive.
Hollywood, FL
S.T. and her family are living on the edge, hanging on to their family’s Medicaid health insurance amid the Covid-19 pandemic, living in fear of losing the healthcare that keeps them alive.
Hialeah, FL
Wallace Boddin knows he’s lucky to be alive. The other two patients that were admitted with him to Hialeah Hospital in similar conditions didn’t make it.
Ft Lauderdale, FL
KG is a veteran who has diabetes and a potentially fatal kidney condition. In recent years she has been periodically homeless. Although she has previously found temporary housing in community shelters, with her fragile health and advanced age, she now fears getting exposed to COVID-19.
Miami, FL
Darren has worked in unskilled labor positions for most of his life but because of his physical problems, he can no longer return to those jobs.
Miami Gardens, FL
Olga is a 52-year old woman who has endured severe physical and mental abuse and has had extreme difficulty getting back on her feet after fleeing her abusive husband. After years of abuse, she and her daughter finally built up the courage to leave their home.
Miami, FL
Angeline suffers from serious health conditions, which routine treatments have not been able to relieve. Without Medicaid, Angeline lacks the privacy, stability, and continuity of care she greatly desires.
Miami, FL
Without Medicaid, Fulgencio could not get the surgery, physical therapy and treatment he needed for his debilitating back condition, which caused him to experience daily pain.
Miami, FL
Ambiorix used to work in construction but has not worked since February 2011 because of his hematological disorders and depression.
Miami, FL
Charilus is a fifty-six-year-old Haitian-American who suffers from cognitive impairments, memory loss, hearing loss, vision loss, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, arthritis, and back pain.
Miami, FL
Before COVID, Adriana, a 60-year-old resident of downtown Miami, had been working hard as a waitress--in spite of serious health problems.
Miami, FL
Nelson can't get the brand-name medications he needs. Without Medicaid, he can only get generic medications that are far less effective at managing his symptoms.
Miami, FL
Rebecca lost her health insurance when she was laid off from her technical support job. Now working part-time, she doesn't make enough to qualify for a marketplace subsidy.
Read STORIES Of Other Floridians
Who Need Medicaid Expansion
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The Florida Health Justice Project speaks with Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, a leading Miami physician, about the challenges faced by his many uninsured patients and the devastating impact of Florida’s failure to expand Medicaid.
Why Floridians Are Falling
Through The Coverage Gap
Florida is one of only 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid. As a result, approximately 445,000 Floridians fall into the “Coverage Gap,” meaning they have no path to affordable coverage.
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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.
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