Why Medicaid isn't just for the "other": You too may need it

In a month and change I'll have a United Healthcare plan at my new job. I am looking forward to that. Not only because I enjoyed a nice policy a few years ago when I worked for another employer, but because I am going to lose my Medicaid insurance in the interim.

Quitting my last job right before the Great Recession meant that after Cobra ran out and I was not yet working, I needed to be realistic about what I needed. I had been working regularly as a freelance journalist, but doing the math, it wasn't adding up to what I needed. I swallowed my pride and applied for what is called "Husky" in Connecticut (took me a while to realize the play on words; UConn Huskies!)

How lucky I was! I was able to see top-tier doctors at Yale Hospital or Smilow in New Haven. I am talking world-class eye doctor and cancer specialist. Thank God I didn't have cancer, but I had at least one scare. And because of Husky, I never worried that I'd miss a mammogram.

In my view, Medicaid should continue until someone's new health insurance policy kicks in, as mine will August 1, and not be cancelled simply because one's moved out of state. But let's save that for another day.

Rolling back legislation that President Obama fought so hard to bring to fruition means people like me, college-educated middle-aged journalists who, through no fault of their own, might be struggling to find a job (as I was, and like thousands are every day in this country), is - in the words of Trump - "mean". Yes, President Trump: You were on to something with that word "mean".

I remember hearing about a homeless man who had once been the CEO of a corporation. I heard this story probably decades ago, long before I had roiled in the job market, been forced to accept food stamps, or choose between groceries for myself or food for my cat (I always chose the latter). What's missing in the Republican debate is this: people on Medicaid aren't lazy, aimless, conniving leeches. We are English Honors students, King's College candidates, transportation reporters, tutors, sisters, daughters.

I remember telling one of my social service counselors rather haughtily that I was different from the others in the system. She set me straight, albeit gently: "There are more like you than you realize." Sure, there are people who might not be trying to get jobs or who are trying to beat the system, but I never met them. When the Recession was at its peak, the jobless rate was what, 9 percent? It felt like 20 percent. I probably went on 30 job interviews between 2008 and 2011 alone.

Now that I am a full-time reporter again and looking forward to a new healthcare policy, I want to continue fighting for people like the me of 2009, the one who found herself losing her health insurance and who thanked God she had Medicaid. I would also like to thank the State of Connecticut, always in my heart, and my wonderful doctors and my physical therapist in New Haven and Milford.

Medicaid must not only be saved, but it must be expanded. Our country was founded on ideals, and it is not time to lose our heart.

PHOTO: Milford (CT) HospitalWikimedia Commons Images