Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling
and staunch Republican resistance,
Marc Alphonse, an unemployed
40-year-old Marine veteran who is
essentially homeless, cannot get
health insurance under Obamacare.
Three years ago, Alphonse learned he has a kidney disorder that will
deteriorate into kidney failure, and possibly prove fatal, if left untreated. As it stands now, he suffers from bouts of nausea caused by his dysfunctional kidneys, and he’s dogged by an old knee injury that limits his
job prospects. He gets by on $400 a month in unemployment benefits,
and his family can no longer afford housing in their home city of Miami.
Alphonse’s 28-year-old wife, Danielle, and three young children are
staying with relatives while Alphonse couch surfs.
“I live from family to family until I’m able to get myself situated,” he
told The Huffington Post.
Alphonse is one of nearly 5 million uninsured Americans caught in a
cruel gap that renders some Americans “too poor for Obamacare.”
BROKEN PROMISE
Obamacare was supposed to make
health coverage affordable, or even
free, for low-income Americans.
The law’s official name is the Affordable Care Act. However, the
Supreme Court tossed a huge obstacle in the path of that goal in
2012, ruling that the states could
opt out of one of Obamacare’s
crucial provisions: The expansion
of Medicaid coverage to anyone
making less than 133 percent of
the federal poverty level, or about
$15,300 a year for a single person.
Since the court’s ruling, 24 states,
including Florida, chose not to
expand the program.