First Dinner at the Beach House

Our first Night at the beach house was great !! We got to relax and reflect. We were able to enjoy a home cooked meal courtesy of Andrew and Lauren!! Yay! One of the best parts of the evening was getting to know each other and being able to just relax and enjoy our break after working so hard to enroll individuals. 

My Reflection

        It's almost over. I don't know how to start writing about the wonderful time I've had this Spring Break. 

We have had our good times and our bad times on this trip. We have done everything from canvasing the areas of Atmore and Brewton, Alabama and marketing our service and enrollment events, to talking to people about their general bias about the Affordable Care Act. As Certified Application Counselors we have helped to educate, enroll, and enlist (in the effort to eliminate the gap).  

        We've heard stories after stories about the gratifying feeling of helping someone realize how cheap they could possibly receive health insurance using the market place in training, but this trip was the real deal. It was an emotional roller coaster for me. I went from having the warm fuzzes from helping someone to the dreaded feeling of realizing again and again that the state of Alabama has an unfortunate medicaid gap . Those who fall in the medicaid gap are individuals and families who make too much to receive medicaid but make too little to be able to afford a health care plan. It was heart wrenching to realize I wasn't going to be able to help everyone get coverage they could afford. This realization hit me with my first client in Atmore. We weren't able to help them as much as I would have liked but we could offer to help them file for exemption from the upcoming fine. My first client cried in frustration and expressed how helpless she felt. It was the helplessness that I know many Alabamians felt while applying for health care. This trip made it obvious that this state needs to expand their medicaid program because without it many residents can't afford coverage. 

        I'm graduating this May so this was my last spring break and I wouldn't have spent it any other way. I wanted to help the community and the public in a unique way and by working with BamaCovered we did exactly that.  I've been able to help people enroll in some amazing deals for health insurance, I've explained the Affordable Care Act, made new friends that have an urge to serve the community just as much as I do. Karin has started a petition to extend the medicaid gap and the group has started looking for other ways to draw attention to the medicaid gap. This was a wonderful experience and I will forever remember my last Spring Break and the people who made it interesting! Hopefully we can continue to work together to bring awareness to the medicaid gap!

Reflecting Upon My Spring Break Experience

When I was preparing for this trip, I knew that we would help people and I knew that there would be some that we would be unable to help. The thing that I did not know, however, was just how hard it would be to see people walkaway knowing that there is nothing affordable out there for them. The majority of the people that we talked with fell in the medicaid gap, they make too much money for medicaid, but don't make enough to get government help paying for insurance. Seeing their reactions was unsettling and upsetting at the very core, I mean we came on this trip to help people. I finally just resigned myself to the fact that it is not us that is the problem, Governer Bentley would not extend medicaid to cover those without a truly affordable option. I, along with Jasmyn, have decided to start a letter writing campaign to urge Mr. Bentley to change this. I have started a petition and have gathered a few signatures already.

Now, on to the reflection questions:

The most rewarding moment of the trip was the people that we were able to enroll in healthcare coverage, The lady that I helped in Atmore was so appreciative and she needed it so much. The excitement in her voice and how grateful that she was, it was an amazing feeling. I was able to provide her with the right tool to drastically change her life. Everyone should volunteer to do at least something, it is an amazing feeling. The other highlight of my trip was when I saw a lady who's family has never had health insurance be enrolled for a plan that was less than $40 a month for her whole family. I talked with her on the phone and she drove for over an hour to get to us in Brewton, and while I was not the one who helped her enroll, I was still just as happy to help her.

The most difficult part of this trip was seeing so many people fall in the Medicaid gap, especially those who were visibly upset. I wish I had money to give to them. Another difficult part was when we were chased off of some property where we were trying to spread our word and the manager of the business showed no caring at all. He said that if people worked they could get healthcare, and this is, unfortunately not true. 

This trip has nothing to do with any volunteer work that I have previously done, but this was the most memorable. Most of the other stuff I have done was about issues that have been going on for a long time and the awareness was pretty much already there. This experience was completely different. This is such a controversial issue and it highly politicized that it was a bit unnerving. Overall, I would volunteer to do this same thing again or something extremely similar. This experience was very rewarding for me.

This trip has ignited a fire in me about healthcare issues, mainly the medicaid gap. Something needs to be done for these people and it needs to happen now. I have seen people so in need of health care and cannot afford it but cannot get on medicaid, these people need to be reached also. We need to find a way to try and reach Governer Bentley and allow him to understand and see the need for extending medicaid coverage. This is our time and we can do it. It only takes a few to do big things. If we won't look out for and help these people who need healthcare the most, then I want to know, who will?

Reflection

What was the most rewarding moment in the trip?

          The most rewarding part of the trip was the last person I signed up. He was the only person I had that didn't fall into the medicaid gap. Though he opted to find his own health care elsewhere he still did not fall into the gap and that was a relief. He seemed pretty happy with my help and said he would look into insurance through his job.

What was the most difficult moment of the trip?

          The hard part was explaining the medicaid gap to people. They were sad and upset and it was hard to see people in that state. They found themselves angry because the were too poor to afford health care and they really needed it and sad because they ultimately felt helpless. Though I was able to help them file for hardship exemption they still had to go another year uninsured and that really made my heart hurt for them. 

How does this experience compare or relate to other volunteer work you have done ?

          This has been a completely different experience for me. I have never traveled far for volunteering before. I usually stay in the Birmingham area for all of my volunteering services but I had to get out of my comfort zone for this trip. Also this is the first volunteering trip that I have been on that has not been backed by some religious organization. I usually volunteer with a local church but this time it was through my university and I really enjoyed it. It had a completely different vibe and I looooooved it!

Reflections on My Alternative Spring Break Experience

May or may not have stolen Andrew's pic

I was so excited to participate on the alternative spring break. I was going to meet new people, travel, and most importantly help those in need. Overall, I am glad I took part in the trip, the fact that we as a group helped even one person gain healthcare is assurance enough that I made the right choice in participating.
  
It was disappointing to find out that most of the population Escambia County did not have health insurance. As the days went on and the lack of participation as people entered in the facilities was disappointing, we came to a realization. It appeared that most of the population of Brewton and Atmore fit in the Medicaid gap. This realization altered the way we felt about what was going on. It was not the fact that people were confused or ignorant to the Affordable Care Act, the residents of Brewton couldn’t afford it. All of the people that I tried to enroll unfortunately fell into the Medicaid gap. As disappointing as it was that we did not enroll as many people as we

This volunteer experience was a lot more rewarding than any other kind of volunteering I’ve done before. I would enjoy participating in something like this again. This opportunity has definitely changed my view on the Affordable Healthcare Act. I called my aunt this afternoon to make sure that she had gone on marketplace.gov to see her opportunities.
would’ve liked to, we got the word out, we raised awareness about the Medicaid gap, and luckily for some people, they were able to get affordable healthcare. Thanks so much to Tullia and BamaCovered as well as University of Montevallo, Andrew, and Lauren for taking out the time and setting this up.

The Reflection: How BamaCovered Helped Me

As we come to an end on our service trip, I will also take the time to reflect on the effects of what we've done and what this experience has done to me. Overall, im
I've never been so satisfied with a volunteer experience before. Unlike other volunteer opportunities that include nameless charities or random bystanders, the work of enrolling citizens into health care plans for themselves and their families became very intimate and individual on a level. I could actually see gratification in a raw form.

Obviously, the most rewarding part of the trip was being able to help others. As we canvassed around the locals towns of Atmore and Brewton, we had a chance to spread the word about health care options and answer questions. It had finally dawned on me that beyond my belief, I now knew more about such a political issue than others did. Also, many people appreciated the effort we, as college students, took to train and volunteer to help others. I had the opportunity to enroll a couple and a family into affordable plans. Feeling connected to people was the most rewarding feeling.

Alongside, there were a few negative emotions evoked as well. There were s few people that came in and were stuck in the Medicaid gap; that is to say that they made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford a health care plan. As intimate as the scene was, we had no choice but to feel remorse when turning away someone that needed help. Initially, I thought people just weren't taking the opportunity to sign up for plans. Now I understand the sad truth that many Alabamians simply can't afford it.

Alabama has never been very expedient when it comes up ratifying state policies and/or laws. This type of conditioning of not staying up to speed has made Alabamians stagnant. Not only can we not do much, we don't care to. In the future, I want to commit to educating myself about issues such as these, and doing whatever I can to educate others about their options.

Reflections on our Work

After a relaxing day of walking on the beach and taking a run though the Gulf Breeze nature pathway, I decided to take a few minutes and reflect on the experience of helping people enroll in health care in Escambia County, AL. On the whole, I am very satisfied with our trip. We talked with scores of people, small business owners, and locals attending a rogue carnival about the upcoming Open Enrollment deadline. We spoke with about 20 people or families and helped at least 10 of them select a plan that they could afford. The five of us (with me and Lauren) worked with Bama Covered and joined the group of over 27,000 trained assistors who have helped people navigate the Marketplace.gov website.

Me setting the table for dinner at the beach

Our efforts this week seem to have paid dividends. The White House just announced that over 6 million people have enrolled in a plan, which isn't quite equal to the goal of 7 million people that was set this past summer. Still, there are a lot of people in the United States who will live measurably better lives because they don't have to worry about getting stuck with unreasonable hospital costs if something happens to them. And what's better, almost 2 million of the people who have enrolled did so within the last two weeks, and experts predict that the recently-announced extension will allow at least a half million more people to find a plan that works for them. In Alabama, one of the states that did not choose to extend Medicaid and does not have a state-based exchange, 41 percent of the people who were found to be eligible for plans enrolled in one (as of March 1). I am curious to see what effect the final push in March has on this number.

The work that students from Montevallo did this week is important and should be commended. However, seeing them talk with people has also given me a new perspective on health care legislation in the United States. My major takeaway from this week is that the Affordable Care Act does make the lives of some people better, but it does only a little to alleviate the acute need for justice and fair access to health care in our country. And the problem on the surface is the Medicaid Gap. As I and several other students have talked about before on this blog, we had multiple conversations with people who are completely helpless. They are unable to find jobs or unable to work, yet they receive just enough federal assistance to not qualify for Medicaid, and thus they cannot realistically afford health care. It was awful to walk people through the application process (people who have jobs even) and hope with them that there would be something they could afford. There's no worse feeling than having to share all of your information with a stranger and hope but later realize that the only plans you qualify for cost more than 50 percent of your income. All we could tell these people was that we were sorry and we hoped our legislators would change their mind.

It's important to phrase this dilemma in terms of real numbers, and it's worth comparing Alabama to Kentucky, a state that did choose to expand Medicaid and does have a state-based exchange, which makes it easier for citizens to purchase plans. In Kentucky, about 33 percent of people who were eligible for a marketplace plan purchased one (as of March 1). This is a lower rate than Alabama, but far more people in Kentucky are being insured. 222,448 people were deemed to be eligible for Medicaid, whereas in Alabama, only 17,980 were. Kentucky's is the highest percentage of the overall state population in the United Sates that receives some form of health care because of the Affordable Care Act, I believe. Alabama is not the worst, but it has one of the more substantial gaps in coverage.

The second thing I take away from this trip is that the Affordable Care Act is a misalignment of priorities. Many people who desperately need health care cannot afford it, while those individuals, especially those who work for large corporations and profitable small businesses and make a semi-good living, can now receive good health care coverage. I don't begrudge such people health care coverage, but I think it's important that we not lose sight of what's actually happening in the United States: the Affordable Care Act is letting many corporations and businesses off the hook for fairly compensating their employees and providing them quality health care. Instead, these businesses are allowing the government to subsidize their operations by stepping back and requiring their employees to purchase independent plans from Marketplace.gov. American taxpayers effectively foot the bill for the operating costs of Wal-Mart, Target, Trader Joe's, and other retailers while these corporations get to pocket massive profits. Of course, the ACA has anticipated this and has levied fines for businesses that can but won't offer health care, but it's unclear as to how or to what extent this will be monitored.

We experienced this first-hand on our trip when one of the students talked with a woman who works at a large chain drug store retail chain. She is not full time, but often works over 30 hours per week. That store offers her a private health plan, but it is completely unrealistic, considering how little money she makes each month. But this chain drug store company refuses to offer something reasonable, especially now that they know more and more people will be able to afford a plan with the Marketplace. The problem is, however, that even in the Marketplace, the only people who can afford plans are those who make much more than minimum wage.

Ultimately, I think that every state will expand Medicaid and accept the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and this will lead to more people getting to have access to health care, which is good. However, it won't solve the other fundamental problem here: private health care providers will continue to get rich as they funnel billions of dollars from the government, and access to health care will still be uneven and inconsistent. To answer the question that we posed on this blog, I will continue to monitor health care legislation, and I will continue to maintain that our only option in the United States is to adopt a single payer system.

I don't think that our work with Bama Covered was for naught. Don't get me wrong. In fact, it has opened my eyes to the way that the Affordable Care Act is effecting all of us. But it's also affirmed my conviction that we need to have a single payer system. I've often casually advocated for causes like Single Payer Action, and now I will do so even more.