Real stories: Floridians without health care thanks to the Legislature

Kim Cooper cannot remember her last annual physical exam but guesses it was 10 or 15 years ago. That was probably the last time the Kenneth City resident had a job that offered health insurance. She worked 27 hours a week as a telemarketer until this spring, when she left to care for her ailing mother.

When she has to see a doctor, Cooper borrows the money and pays cash. When she’s really sick, she heads for the emergency room at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. When she tried last year to sign up for health coverage through the federal exchange, she was told her annual income of about $4,500 is too little to qualify for a subsidy. Yet as a single adult with no children, she does not qualify for Medicaid.

The lack of health insurance is a family issue. A sister who works as a restaurant server does not have coverage. Until recently, neither did Cooper’s mother, Karen Starks, who had several bouts of pneumonia and sought treatment in St. Anthony’s emergency room. With St. Anthony’s help, Starks recently qualified for disability.

If Florida accepted the Medicaid expansion money, Cooper and her sister would have affordable health coverage.

“I think it’s sad,’’ said Cooper, 48, who is confident she can find another telemarketing job and wants to pay what she can afford for health coverage. “I thought this whole thing was about helping people in my position. It’s been very scary.’’

Jeremy Wooldridge has big plans and a small budget. He is working toward an associates degree at St. Petersburg College with the help of grants and loans, and he hopes to then attend the University of South Florida or the University of Florida. He works up to 35 hours a week for minimum wage at a Clearwater miniature golf attraction, lives in a St. Petersburg one-bedroom apartment and says he is “very good at stretching a dollar.’’ But the money does not stretch far enough for Wooldridge to afford health insurance.

Wooldridge, 28, makes too little to qualify for a subsidy to help pay for health insurance through the federal marketplace, and as a childless adult he does not qualify for Medicaid. His employer does not offer health insurance. Wooldridge also suffers from Crohn’s Disease, an inflammatory bowl disease that can trigger abdominal pain, fatigue and other issues. He is being treated as a charity patient by BayCare Health System but has to scrape up the money for prescriptions and lab work.

If Florida accepted the Medicaid expansion money, Wooldridge would have affordable health coverage.

“It’s the most frustrating experience I have ever had in my life,’’ Wooldridge said of his unsuccessful efforts to find affordable health insurance. “It disgusts me that this government won’t do anything to help people like me.’’

Helen Henderson has been lucky. Except for bone spurs on her feet that make it painful to walk, she does not have serious health issues and cannot remember the last time she had a physical. The 55-year-old Tampa resident cannot afford to get sick.

"I try to take really good care of myself because I don’t have the money," Henderson said.

She lives in public housing and cannot afford health insurance or a car to get to work. She rides the bus or walks more than a mile to her part-time job at Wendy’s, and she needs a car to take the jobs she used to have as a personal care-giver. She does not qualify for Medicaid as a single adult, and she earns less than $10,000 a year. She tried to apply for health insurance on the federal marketplace, but she makes too little to qualify for a subsidy.

If Florida accepted the Medicaid expansion money, Henderson would have affordable health coverage.

"You have a lot of us out here who don’t make enough money to pay for insurance," Henderson said. "It’s horrible. It’s ridiculous."