"I'm a survivor, and I'm surviving because of Medicaid."
If it was not for Medicaid, I would be dead. For 35+ years, I was able to purchase private health insurance. And then the pandemic hit, and I lost all my clients. As the pandemic was winding down, and I was beginning to rebuild my business, I needed health insurance, and I learned that I qualified for Medicaid. Shortly after that, I learned that I had cancer, stage four lymphoma, and I was very close to death.
My treatment included getting hit with radiation 35 times, and two plus years of chemotherapy. I still take a daily pill form of chemotherapy, but I'm getting close to being done with my treatment, and I am presently ‘Mr. Undetectable’.
I’m grateful I had access to Medicaid, because without it, I wouldn't have been able to see all the doctors that I needed to see, and get all the tests that I needed to get. I wouldn't have access to the drugs, and the treatments that were so expensive, I never would have been able to afford them, and I would have ended up bankrupt and homeless.
I'm a survivor, and I'm surviving because of Medicaid.