Mary's Story

Here is the story of one person who lost coverage through the Oregon Medically Needy program, as presented in a recent report of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (see story on Original article: page 6).

Mary (not her real name) is a 48-year-old, divorced Caucasian woman who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996. She can no longer work and suffers from double vision, difficulties concentrating, and problems with muscle coordination and strength.

“When I wake up in the morning, my muscles are stiff. I've got spasms. I can barely move.”

Mary takes many medications and receives most of them through pharmaceutical assistance programs. However, she reports making copayments of $5 to $25 for those medications and paying a shipping fee of $75 for one of them.

Mary spends much of her time filling out forms for health care assistance programs when she can concentrate and her eyesight is not bothering her. She said, “My life has been a living hell since I no longer have the Medically Needy program.”