An uninsured Florida woman who died last month from a treatable heart condition sparked a new kind of Obamacare horror story: the failure to expand Medicaid is killing people.
Charlene Dill, a 32-year-old mother of three, fell into what's known as the "coverage gap" — her $9,000 a year income was too much for Medicaid without Florida expanding coverage, and it was too little to get Obamacare subsidies. In his Orlando Weekly cover story "Falling Into the Gap", reporter Bill Manes makes clear who he thinks is to blame for her premature death. "Dill’s death was not unpredictable, nor was it unpreventable. She had a documented heart condition for which she took medication. But she also happened to be one of the people who fall within the gap created by the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion," he writes. In other words, he argues, Dill died because of Florida's Republican government and partisan politics.
Charlene Dill, a 32-year-old mother of three, fell into what's known as the "coverage gap" — her $9,000 a year income was too much for Medicaid without Florida expanding coverage, and it was too little to get Obamacare subsidies. In his Orlando Weekly cover story "Falling Into the Gap", reporter Bill Manes makes clear who he thinks is to blame for her premature death. "Dill’s death was not unpredictable, nor was it unpreventable. She had a documented heart condition for which she took medication. But she also happened to be one of the people who fall within the gap created by the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion," he writes. In other words, he argues, Dill died because of Florida's Republican government and partisan politics.