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!