“She fought hard, but it was too much. There was nothing the paramedics could do. She would have been alive if she had been able to have insurance.”
An estimated 19,000 people in Wyoming work jobs that don’t provide health care insurance or can’t afford to purchase it themselves. Medicaid Expansion would cover this gap. But, for those living without health care insurance, it can be heartbreaking. This is Nels’ story.
Nels Kelley and his mother, Laurie, often traveled to Thermopolis when he was young. Those good memories led Nels and his partner Ian to move there from Denver in 2020. The two opened the Lazy Fox, selling baked goods and providing a gathering place for the people of Thermopolis. Laurie, who moved there from Montana, found a duplex to share and played a vital role at the bakery.
Things were going well at the Lazy Fox Bakery. They were weathering the pandemic and the typical ups and downs restaurants experience. Then in March 2022, Laurie called Nels, saying she wasn’t feeling well.
Her insurance was supposed to start on the 1st, and it was on the 29. When I finally took her in, she said she was okay. She said just a few more days, and her insurance would kick in. She didn’t want to be in debt or have us help or anything. We walked in the door to the hospital, and she collapsed. They did CPR for 45 minutes right there on the floor. She fought hard, but it was too much. There was nothing the paramedics could do. She would have been alive if she had been able to have insurance. After writing in the paper about it, others came into the shop to share their stories. They were afraid to go to the hospital. No one deserves to go through this–it shouldn’t happen.
As horrible as Nels’ story is, the unfortunate reality is that too many Wyomingnites push off going to their doctors because of a lack of health insurance. Like Laurie, many wait too long.
Like Nels says in his video, no one deserves to go through what Laurie did. However, by providing Medicaid to the thousands of Wyomingites who fall through the healthcare “gap,” we can prevent the senseless death of our friends, neighbors, and family members.
