‘It shouldn’t be like this’

Florence Dortch, 60, of Vredenburgh (Monroe County)

Photo by Whit Sides

Florence has been uninsured for 22 years. Lately, she’s been receiving care from a rural health clinic in Monroeville, where she pays out of pocket for help with her arthritis, high blood pressure and monitoring her prediabetes. She has trouble affording her medications but is able to continue taking her prescriptions for now with help from her sister. 

“I make it work because I have to. I try not to think about how long I’ve been living like this, because it’s not great. It’ll get you down. I rely on a lot of help from the community, but it shouldn’t be like this, because I’m not the only one.”

Florence has a few more years until she’s eligible for Medicare. Because she works, she doesn’t meet Alabama’s stringent income eligibility requirements for Medicaid.

“If working people could get the coverage they deserve, we wouldn’t even be where we are now. Here in the Black Belt, or anywhere else.”