Howard

Howard was a new patient this week at the clinic. He is married with two children. He had a good job in Georgia until his employer decided to give the job to his (the owner’s) brother. He was left with no job, and no prospects.

He grew up not far from here, and had a brother living in the area so he moved his family here. He now works for his brother making $8/hour, and sometimes working a lot of hours. Other times, not nearly enough. Farming tends to be seasonal.

He has no health insurance, and has some on-going health problems. He has not seen a doctor in over two years.

He and his wife will qualify for Medicaid under the Medicaid Expansion. They will both have access to healthcare, as their children do now.

These are not people “sitting on their butts doing nothing.” These are people who are working, trying to keep their family warm and fed. These are the people that will be helped by the Affordable Care Act. And, they are not alone. Every week we see too many people that do not have access to healthcare – except on Tuesday night, in the basement of a church.