Association encourages people to look closer at faces of Medicaid

FLORENCE — The S.C. Hospital Association is trying to encourage people to take a closer look at the Medicaid cutbacks taking place in the state with a video called “The Many Faces of Medicaid.”

Some people think Medicaid is just a crutch for people who don’t want to work, said Rozalynn Goodwin, director of policy research at the association, but that’s not the case among the majority of Medicaid recipients.

“Everyone knows our state budget has been under a lot of pressure,” she said. “We felt we really needed to educate people across the state about the benefits of the program and how it’s a really great
investment.”

Making cuts to the program affects people from all walks of life, Goodwin said.

“There is a stigma that people on the program don’t work, when in fact 65 percent are working,” she said. “It should be an issue that everyone is concerned about.”

Misty Watford is a local mother who believes in the benefits of Medicaid. Without the government program, her son, Zane, would not be the same happy boy he is today. She said immediately after Zane was born, he needed special care that could only come from multiple surgeries and doctor’s visits.

One of the medications that helped to stabilize Zane wasn’t covered by her insurance, Watford said.

“The medication he was on was over $20,000 a year,” she said. “If it had not been for Medicaid, he wouldn’t have been able to get it. He would have gone into a diabetic coma because we wouldn’t have been able to pay for it.”

Although she and her husband both work outside the home, Watford said, they could not cover the cost of some of their son’s basic medical needs. Because she is the primary breadwinner with her work as a school psychologist, a day nurse was needed to care for Zane during the day.

Zane qualifies for Medicaid through the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA), she said. TEFRA is a category of eligibility for Medicaid coverage for children under age 19 who meet the SSI childhood disability definition and who can more economically be provided home care than in a hospital or community home, according to the Family Connect of S.C. Web site.
TEFRA Medicaid coverage is based on a child’s income resources, rather than that of his family.

Today, Zane is 3 and is able to walk and talk just like any other boy his age, thanks to the care he received under the S.C. Medicaid program.

Watford said if the Medicaid cuts continue, it could be someone like Zane who loses coverage next.

“I know what it’s like to need that help, and it’s there,” she said. “It depresses me when I hear about the cuts they’ve been making. The medical needs are going to be there whether they cut or not.”

Goodwin said she hopes the video will make people begin thinking about Medicaid in a new light.

“There isn’t just one face (of Medicaid),” she said.