More than 1.2 million hardworking Floridians would be eligible to gain access to quality healthcare if Medicaid were expanded. In Broward County, 232,469 residents could benefit. Here is one of those stories. Yolanda Roche, Nursing Assistant, University Hospital



Yolanda is a nursing assistant at University Hospital in Tamarac. She and her husband care for their 38 year-old daughter who is mentally challenged. They are concerned because Medicaid services have been drastically cut for the mentally challenged in Florida in the last few years. For example, Yolanda’s daughter, Beatrice, attended Truman Warden, a developmental training center for adults with developmental disabilities on a Medicaid voucher for eight years until 2012.



“My daughter will never be independent, but they trained her to use the computer and do little things for herself. She learned how to socialize better with people. They loved her a lot. She was very comfortable there.”



Yolanda continued, “Unfortunately, there were budget cuts and the training center had to let her go because Medicaid would not pay for her to go to school. It was a very difficult time for our family because changes are really difficult for people who are mentally challenged. She started acting out. It’s really bad because my daughter really needs this.”

Two years ago, Medicaid stopped covering Beatrice’s seizure medication and dental services.



“We paid for her medicine and dental plan out of pocket until my husband lost his job last year.”



Yolanda and her husband, who now works for Home Depot, can’t afford to pay for their daughter’s seizure medication and dental plan so they dropped the dental plan, even though Beatrice needs a procedure that would cost $4,000.



Yolanda asks, “I can’t afford that. How can I afford it? They keep cutting Medicaid. They keep cutting and cutting. My daughter needs these things. I work, my husband works, but we don’t make enough to pay for both her dental care and medicine. We need to expand Medicaid for the mentally challenged.”



Yolanda adds, “My daughter cannot speak up for herself. We, the parents of mentally challenged children, are their voices. We need to speak up for them.”