Im josh rushing. Very nice to meet you. Please come in. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much. In 2005, denise wade and her husband barry moved to florida to help her aging parents. They had solid careers and financial security. A fairy tale wedding huh . It was. It really was a fairytale wedding. What was he like . He was very assertive. He was an extrovert. He was very gregarious. He would give you the shirt off his back. In the economic downturn, barry lost his job and Health Insuranceand then he was diagnosed with cancer. Their ideal life quickly fell apart. The Affordable Care act was supposed to help people like denise. But like millions of others, she is caught in a Health Care Coverage gapwith no access to affordable insurance. If we had had the opportunity to have found out that he had the cancer earlier than we did, i feel certain that hed still be with us today. But we just did not have the finances or the medical coverage and so thats the way it went. I always had Health Insurance. We always had great Health Care Coverage. And now to be on the other side of the fence. Its mindboggling. I never imagined myself in the position that im in right now. When he passed away do you remember how much you still had in medical bills at that point . Well over a hundred thousand. It was quite an ordeal in a fairly short amount of time, you went from a couple where he owned his own business, you had a job, you had a retirement fund, you were saving for. We had just built a house. We literally had a house built. And in a fairly short amount of time you went from that to. Rags. Riches to rags. By the time barry passed away, denise was bankrupt. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And being indigent, id be completely on the streets without my parents. With the help of charity and her parents retirement savings, denise had a lumpectomybut her Health Problems didnt end there. Before she even got the cancer she had had three fibroids removed, one as large as the size of a softball. And now, recently, we took her to the hospital one night and they found more fibroids growing again and a cyst on each ovary. This isnt even half of it. Well it is half. My Organizational Skills have left me. I used to be much more organized than i am now. Denise says she needs a hysterectomy to reduce the risk of malignancybut she cant afford it, and her familys resources are overstretched. Her brother david has parkinsons, cant work, has no insurance, and also depends on his parents. I was in a motorcycle accident back in 86. I had compressed vertebrates and compressed fracture to my back. I was on pain medication for a while until they changed the laws in florida where you couldnt get your medications, pain medications from a regular doctor. You had to go to pain management, which i cannot afford because i dont have medicaid. Both david and denise have applied for medicaid in florida three times and were denied, even though they live below the poverty line. Are you in pain now . Oh, yes. I cant sit for too long a period of time. I cant stand or walk for too long a period of time. Thats just with my back. Its like a tremor there, too. Thats the parkinsons. What started out as a budget for two became a budget for four. Do the math. Denises father, bernard, also has parkinsons, increasing the strain on the family. All i can tell you is that our investments that we have put in for us, we draw from it every month just to make the monthly bills, including all the illnesses. How does that make you feel . It saddens me. And it makes me, unfortunately feel guilty, although i didnt ask for this health problem. I watched my parents work all their lives for what they had and to know that im a drain or a burden on them really hurts. [crying] im the caregiver for all of them. I do all the dispensing of medications and everything because theyre very difficult and easy to get mixed up and its getting to the point now where i cant even handle it all. I think that its anger, because its hurt. It hurts me to see my family in this condition. Denise and david are two of the estimated 800,000 people who would be covered in florida if the state expanded medicaid. The aca was meant to cover people like them. In the Affordable Care act, medicaid, it was redesigned to cover all lowerincome people in the country, not just selected groups of lowincome people. Its totally paid for federally for the first three years and then the federal contribution stays very high, stays at 90 percent. A number of states resisted. The resistance has enraged many people in those states who say that Republican Leaders are rejecting Medicaid Expansion because it part of president obamas signature legislation. Rural citizens dying shouldnt be soldiers of our legislatures defiance. The fact that you had a strong rightward shift in the country, a very, very strong presence of a group of people who may be small in numbers but who are very, you know, electrifyingly present as voters and organizers. Is that the tea party . Yes, who oppose all government spending, really, for anything, it appears. Nearly 2 million georgians lack health coverage. You are putting in jeopardy the health care of the citizens of alabama. A level of opposition to the point at which those who hold these beliefs are willing to put the lives and health of thousands of state residents on the line to further a belief. Aljazeera america presents the killing of journalist is a question directed to society they are impartial. If you wanted to be a good journalist in iraq, you have to risk your life. They observe. And report. Kidnapping is a very real problem. Journalists on the front lines. Sometimes that means risking death getting the story, no matter what it takes thats what the forth estate is all about. Thats why im risking my life. Killing the messenger on Al Jazeera AmericaAl Jazeera America presents a self portrait of generation now. So many of my friends is pregnant. I feel so utterly alone. You need to get your life together im gonna do whatever needs to be done. Ya boy is lookin out to becoming a millionaire. An intimate look at what our kids are facing in school and beyond 15 stories, 1 incredible journey in this envelope is my life right now. Edge of eighteen coming september only on Al Jazeera America here in North Carolina, where the republicanled State Government voted against Medicaid Expansion, citizens have organized into a growing movement. Its time for our leadership on this issue to put down their swords and do what is right. Reverend barber is a leader in the moral monday coalition. Medicaid expansion is at the forefront of its agenda. When medicaid was denied here, some people hear that as stopping those who dont deserve it, i. E. Black folk and brown people. Our movement is exposing that and saying wait a minute. When you deny 500,000 people medicaid in a state that has 1. 6 million poor people, 600,000 children, youre hurting black people. Youre hurting white people. Youre hurting poor people. Youre hurting republicans. Youre hurting democrats. Youre hurting everybody. Well go over there up under that tree. Its lobby day in North Carolina and people impacted by lack of Health Care Access are meeting with their representatives. They brought thousands of signatures of people who want medicaid in North Carolina to speaker tilliss office. Hes the speaker of the house here in the state. And hes also one of the main opponents to allowing medicaid money to come in. Over 30,000 petitions weve collected. Theres more. A majority of North Carolina state legislators, including senator neal hunt, oppose expanding medicaid were here to discuss the Medicaid Expansion. Leaving an estimated 2 billion dollars a year untapped. It doesnt make sense to me that we could be covering 500,000 more people in this state, they could actually get health care and that we would refuse it. During the meeting, senator hunt listened, but did not respond to their concerns. Theres really no single policy that the state could pass that would have a greater impact on alleviating poverty than expanding medicaid. We know it would save lives. We know that it would put so many more people on financially secure footing. But the political dynamics make it very difficult for republicans in the state. And now, most recently, we have a republican governor. So its difficult for them running in really safe, conservative districts to support Medicaid Expansion and then they get painted as a supporter of president obama, as a supporter of the Affordable Care act. Were fighting for our health care. We shall not be moved. North carolina and the other states that have rejected Medicaid Expansion could reverse their decisions and accept the federal funds at any time. The moral monday movement has rallied thousands of people and engaged in public acts of civil disobedience to put pressure on their legislators and governor pat mccrory. Theyve come to read a letter to the governor. Theres about a dozen or more that have said they will be arrested if thats what it takes. Mccrory do you hear us . I dedicate this to my mom, Barbara Marie bosma garlock, a Lifelong Health access advocate who passed away from cancer at just 53 last june, due to a gap in Health Insurance coverage through which she could have found the cancer earlier. I dedicate this to all people in our state, in this nation who are in that predicament. The building is closed. We ask that everyone exit out. Officers here, if you would. The capital has closed down its normal hours now. The police are starting to move people out. Theyre starting to move the media out. But there are a dozen or so protesters who will stay until they talk to the governor or they will be arrested. Those who stayed behind were arrested and cited for trespassing. The governor never responded to their letter. Like in North Carolina, texas leaders have also rejected the federal funds for expansion. We traveled there to see what it means for the state with the nations highest rate of uninsured. Texas was one of the first states to say no. Today i stand with senator cornyn, senator cruz, congressman barton and congressman burgess to repeat our stance. Texas will not be participating in Medicaid Expansion. Would you consider expanding a broken system . Of course not. Of course not. Its like a drug dealer. You give em your first hit free and then theyre hooked for years and years. In galveston, on the states gulf coast 22 percent of the population lives below the poverty linewell above the national average. In 2008, hurricane ike devastated the poorest communities here. Some people lost everything they had and never fully recovered. An eightfoot wall of water flooded this entire part of the island and took this neighborhood, which was historically a very poor neighborhood, and really exacerbated all of the social problems it had to deal with, making the job for st. Vincents house that much more difficult and that much more important. Okay, what type of appointment did you need . St vincents studentrun free clinic in galveston has long been one of the primary Healthcare Options for lowincome residents in southeast texas. We dont actually do the actual mammograms here. In states that dont expand medicaid, there are more than 5 Million People who dont currently qualify and arent eligible for a reduced price plan in the marketplacecreating a phenomenon referred to as the coverage gap. Tonight is dr. Beach and a couple of dermatologists. Cathie owen, who has chronic pain from nerve damage and a Family History of colon cancer, falls into that gap. So how are you doing . Im half way there, gathering the money to have the colonoscopy done. Thats becoming very obvious that im in trouble as you know. How long do you think it will be before you can get the colonoscopy . Another month. It took me a month to get half way, so thats my guess. But kate and i are on the verge of losing our home so im pedaling as fast as i can right now. But other than that, its the neuropathy, its the nerve pain all the time. What we can do here at st. Vincents is good, but its limited. We have to be the people who say, there is a treatment for this. You might be able to get it if you were insured or if you had access to medicare or medicaid. But im sorry because of your financial situation, you are not going to be getting this surgery, or you are not going to be getting this chemotherapy. after her appointment, cathie told us that her poor health prevents her from working full time. I have peripheral neuopathy, which is kind of a junk term for nerve damage that has gotten really bad in the last couple of years. Its kind of like an ant bed that someone also set on fire. All the time. 24 7. How would your life be impacted if you had medicaid . I could have tests run that i need to have run. So eight thousand dollars stands between me and maybe another 20 years of my life, if i have colon cancer. But, i find myself now, at 53, with grown kids, in serious need of help. Hard to ask for but absolutely necessary. With some of the most restrictive Medicaid Eligibility guidelines in the country, its always been hard for poor texans to get Health Care Coverage. As an adult without dependent children, david boothe doesnt qualify for medicaid. He gets some medicine herein the parking lot of a local churchwhere volunteer doctors and med students provide a small selection of donated medications. I have something called partial complex seizures. It means its nonconvulsive seizures. I can slur my words. I can walk like im intoxicated. Just imagine, have you ever woken up, and you got out of bed too quick, okay . Thats how i feel about half the time. And it just beats my body down. Because of his seizure disorder, david told us he cant find full time work. I do a lot of construction work. If i go to a regular company, they will not hire me. Seizures. They do not. A plant will not hire me. What i can do is just get day labor work, or i might get a little paint job or, you know, remodeling job. So you cant get enough work to maintain rent . Correct. m homeless now. Just want to see a neurologist. I cant afford it. There is no safety net. Its a free fall and nobody is there on the bottom to catch you. On tech know, imagine getting the chance to view the world. The brain is relearning how it sees again after decades in the dark, i couldnt get around on my own a miraculous bionic eye. Im seeing flashes great tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. This is some of the best driving ive every done, even though i cant see. Tech know. Were here in the vortex. Only on Al Jazeera America. This is techknow. A show about innovations that can change lives. Were going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and we are doing it in a unique way. This is a show about science by scientists. Lets check out the team of hard core nerves. Costa is an engineer designing bionic eyes to space satellites. We are in the oi for a lifechanging moments. We are hours away. How long have you been waiting for surgery . Lisa has not been able to see for decades. Shes about to be fitted with amazing technology. Will it work. A reallife drama. You tell us when and ou