Olakunle: Oklahoma City, OK

Olakunle is a physician assistant at Variety Care, a non-profit community health center in Oklahoma. When Olakunle sees patients who have access to health insurance like Medicaid, he sees people getting the care they need to stay healthy. “Medicaid is instrumental in providing access to care for patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford their medical care,” he said. 

Olakunle also sees patients who do not qualify for Medicaid and do not make enough money to afford private health insurance. If Oklahoma expanded its Medicaid program, these patients could have access to the medical care they need. When people don’t have access to health insurance, “Patients and caregivers may inappropriately assess their own care to save on out-of-pocket costs,” Olakunle said. “Unfortunately, many times this leads to increased morbidity, poorer prognosis and ultimately higher medical costs.” 

If more Oklahomans had access to health care coverage, more of Olakunle’s patients would come in for preventive care instead of having to wait until they got sick. “Increased access to Medicaid would mean more access to care and the early detection and treatment of illnesses, which leads to a healthier community.” 

Special thanks to Variety Care for their partnership.