Amy Valesquez Santa Fe, NM created on Tue January 14, 2014

Hello, my name is Amy Valesquez, I am 44 years old. We’re a family of 6 people, I have 4 sons, and they range in age, from 19 years old to 13 years old.

My husband and I own a family business here in Santa Fe, NM. Our access to healthcare has been quite limited throughout the years. Because we are self employed that’s always been somewhat of a struggle. Not knowing exactly what our revenue stream was going to be, but healthcare was always a financial expense we couldn’t fit into our budgets.

Medicaid has covered our children in the past. I’ve been eternally grateful that they’ve had access to quality healthcare here in New Mexico with local pediatricians and dentists who have helped keep them healthy throughout the years.

I’ve been waiting anxiously to watch all the legislation and the debates to see what the results were going to be. I was anxiously waiting for 2013 to arrive, so that I could apply for health insurance. I was hoping that somehow or other there would be access for my husband and I just in case something was to ever happen to us. And also for my 19-year-old son, he was at that cut off age where he’s now an adult. So, the Affordable Care Act has actually entitled our family to have that peace of mind that if anything happens to us that we would be taken care of and it wouldn’t drain us financially where we could loose everything.

I applied right when the website went up on October 1. I, like millions of other people, experienced all kinds of hick ups with the technology on the website. I stayed with it, I re-applied, I went on the website a week later, and then two weeks later, and then a month later, and when they said they were re-doing it and making it faster, eventually I was able to make it through to the website.

I received notice that I would qualify for Medicaid services due to our income guidelines. After that occurred it was probably two week into December that I received notice that we would be entitled to Medicaid coverage.

We all have healthcare and as of today I was actually able to go see a dentist just to get an examine and to schedule a cleaning which I wasn’t able to do in about 15 years. I was able to go see the doctor, and that’s quite a relief for me and for my family.

I was rather surprised; there was no co-pay at all. My appointment for my cleaning is next month in February, which they were able to schedule around my school schedule. So far everything has been going well.

What I would tell other New Mexicans that have had issues going to a doctor, and that kind of fear that you can’t go to a doctor because you can’t afford just to see them let alone the mediations they might prescribe to you, if they have to do any laboratory tests or y-rays or anything like that, that just strikes the fear into a person, and you wouldn’t go because you don’t have the money in your bank account to do it or you have other expenses. I would say, sign up! Give it a try, apply, there’s lots of assistance out there. I would say, this is a relief to my family and me and there’s no reason why you can’t have those benefits as well.