FACES OF THE FALLEN / Emine Gurel



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Michael ValentIrene Gurel tells the story of her 26 years old daughter Emine Gurel. A little over a year ago Emine became pregnant and applied for Medicaid since she did not have any medical insurance. While being pregnant she had to apply five different times for medical insurance before she actually received it. The reason Emine had to apply five different times was because Medicaid told her she made too much money to receive insurance. At the time Emine was working full-time at the VA hospital, which she has been working at for six years, and was not receiving health insurance through her employer because it cost too much. She cut back her hours to 35 hours a week but was still told that she made too much money. The baby is now three months old. Medicaid has already told her that once she goes back to work she will no longer receive medical insurance. Aside from the two times Emine was been pregnant she has not had medical insurance since she was 18 years old. Emine’s story is not atypical, it is the story of a number of mothers who must fight for their right to healthcare.