LEFT
OUT
HUFFINGTON
02.03.13
TOO POOR FOR HEALTH CARE,
TOO RICH FOR MEDICAID.
By PETER S. GOODMAN and JEFFREY YOUNG
RUSTON, LA. —
WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE and not enough money for a doctor,
Laura Johnson is long accustomed to treating her ailments with a
self-written prescription: home remedies, prayer and denial.
Over decades, she made her living assisting elderly people in nursing homes in jobs that paid just above minimum wage and included
no health benefits. So even as her feet swelled to such an extent that
she could no longer stuff them into her shoes, and even as nausea,
heada 6