Remembering Billy Manes and Revisiting his Charlene Dill Story
• “Charlene Dill didn’t have to die”. So starts the 2014 story from then Orlando Weekly writer Billy Manes about Charlene Dill, a 32-year-old mother of three children who collapsed and died while selling vacuum cleaners in Kissimmee. She had a documented heart condition, but was unable to pay for medication after falling into the coverage gap created by Florida legislators who refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, leaving thousands without health care insurance. Manes’ sudden death last week caused us to revisit this story, not only because we miss his writing voice, but because people like Dill are still out there. During a recent visit to the Shepherd’s Hope charitable clinic in Longwood, an uninsured patient said …
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