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Forest, VA -
Thousands of Americans are learning what it's like to have little or no insurance, as many lose their jobs or search for work. One woman in our area says a recent experience with Medicaid opened her eyes. She wasn't jobless, but had to use it has a secondary insurance due to an emergency with her child.
On the outside, this mom and Liberty alumna is smiling, playing with her four kids. But on the inside, there's a lot of heartache. It started last fall, when Nicole Adams marriage in Maryland fell apart.
Nicole Adams, Single Mother of Four - "We moved to Lynchburg right before Christmas."
Not long after, her 8-year-old daughter Gracie hurt her foot. The injury got worse, due to misdiagnosis. Local doctors thought it was just a sprain.
Adams - "It was a massive bone infection that had completely hollowed out her heel bone."
Gracie ended up at UVA, for emergency surgery as the infection spread quickly. Nicole also found herself in a tough spot. Her soon to be ex-husband's insurance would not cover anything out-of-state. And they couldn't change that during the last quarter of the policy.
Adams - "We ended up getting on Medicaid, to help us pay for the three hundred thousand dollars in medical bills."
By March, her new insurance policy kicked in. The Medicaid was listed as secondary, for Gracie's bills. But because she still had a link to Medicaid, her pediatricians' office told her, her children were out.
Adams - "I hate the way I felt, I felt like I was being redlined."
Dr. Joseph Teel hears stories like hers daily. At Johnson Health Center, they're seeing more and more first-time Medicaid applicants.
Dr. Joseph Teel, Johnson Health Center - "They might have a 10 or 20 year relationship with someone and then all of a sudden the practice has to turn them away because they've lost their insurance."
Teel says it all has to do with reimbursement - and practices can turn away whoever they choose.
Teel - "So whether it be economic or volume, they have the ability to at point to say, we're not going to see anymore patients, or patients of a specific type."
But patient selection? It boggles Adams' mind.
Adams - "I never even thought about it, when they told me we can't see you, I was shocked, I was like, why?"
Because she says she's always worked hard to not rely on the government. But when she needed to the government didn't work for her.
Adams - "The whole thing really upset me because I found myself in a situation that I think anyone could find themselves in."
Adams also canceled her Medicaid, in order to stay with her pediatrician. But they still haven't accepted her back yet. Incidentally, Johnson Health Center saw 15,000 patients last year. They expect to add five-thousand more in couple of years.
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