Mind the (Coverage) Gap

As a brand-new parent Lakeisha wanted to build something stable for her and her son, but she experienced a huge setback in 2019 when she was hospitalized with walking pneumonia. At the time her son Aiden was only three years old and was living at home with his grandparents in New Hebron while Lakeisha had moved to Hattiesburg to be closer to work. “I had issues with trying to get the doctor that diagnosed me with walking pneumonia so my employer would be able to pay for my short-term disability. I missed the deadline because that doctor was out on vacation but that out-of-pocket cost deductible in 2019 was the reason I had to take out a personal loan of $2,500 to cover medical bills and other expenses. Moving back home in 2020 during the pandemic gave me a sense of direction for the future.” 

Speaking at The Black Women’s Round Table, Cassandra Welchlin heard Lakeisha’s story and gave her the opportunity to speak at another event at the Capitol, where she became involved in raising awareness for issues surrounding the Medicaid coverage gap. During her pregnancy and for six months postpartum, Lakeisha was covered by Medicaid, but once that eligibility ran out, she was forced to either go without coverage, or select a high-cost plan provided by her employer.    

Over the last decade, Lakeisha has worked as an internal support group agent (ISG) at a federal call center in Mississippi. As an ISG she assists other agents with calls for Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicare coverage and enrollment, and is also responsible for taking escalated calls where a supervisor is requested.   

“I am considered an essential worker for United States and yet my health coverage is worse than the consumers that contact us.” 

When she started in 2014, Lakeisha wasn’t fully aware of her own options for health coverage and had to choose between two plans: one with a zero monthly premium and a higher deductible of $4,500 a second plan that was $77 with a deductible of $3,000. If she had added her son to the policy, it would have been $177 every two weeks in the bronze category. As a single mother, all these options came at an extremely high cost.  

“It’s hard. Every day is a struggle; every day is a question of when and how can I feed my child for the next week?”  

Lakeisha is part of a group of essential workers fighting for $25 an hour wages, with the rights to form a union without intimidation and better health coverage. Lakeisha wants people to know that “working at a Medicare and ACA call center is more than just picking up the phone and getting people enrolled into health coverage. We provide essential health coverage for the whole United States, we’re not only a representative of ACA and Medicare but we’re also counselors when it comes to helping you choose the best coverage for you and your family. We’re also teachers to help you learn about the ACA and healthcare.gov, motivators to encourage you to update information correctly to make sure you contact us with all concerns and questions.”