Medicaid Keeps Tsion in School While Managing Her Diabetes

My name is Tsion. I’m 19 years old. I was born in Ethiopia and migrated here when I was 5 years old.

Getting diagnosed with diabetes, I had to take a lot of shots—at least three times a day. I had to consistently check my blood sugar and monitor it. But in order to control my diabetes, I need things like appointments, supplies like monitors, insulin, syringes, and lab work to see what my ratios are.

When I was younger, it used to be so bad that I would spend half my time in the emergency room. If I don’t manage my diabetes properly, I can go into something called diabetic ketoacidosis, which is basically my body shutting down and spilling sugar into my system. When my blood sugar goes high, I’m not able to function as well as I would if it were at a healthy level.

Medicaid helps me get the medication I need in order to stay in school and be a functioning member of society. As someone who wasn’t born here, having something like Medicaid can really help other families by relieving the stress of getting what they need in order to survive.

Medicaid helps me get the medication I need in order to stay in school and be a functioning member of society.

Having my diabetes under control helps me spend more time with friends, family, and the people I care about. It allows me to do the things I love—like automotive work. Since it’s a very high-demand job, having Medicaid helps me get the resources I need to keep my levels under control and work efficiently on the things I love to do.

Medicaid isn’t something people should look down on. It’s very helpful for everyone in society. I would encourage anyone and everyone who is eligible for Medicaid to go and apply.