Audrey

Navigating the complicated system of mental health and substance use services motivated Audrey Trippe of Attalla to step up and serve as a Medicaid consumer representative.

Audrey Trippe, a resident of Attalla in Etowah County, has worked in mental health care since 2013, serving as a peer support specialist, peer supervisor, youth peer, and certified addiction counselor. She and her husband are the proud parents of two boys, one of them a newborn. 

Audrey considers herself in longterm recovery from major depression and substance use disorder. She has spent most of her young adulthood in the coverage gap, relying on urgent care clinics and the ER. Being heard has been a challenge. 

“There have been times I’ve felt like a chart and not a person,” she says. “I’ve felt overmedicated at times because I couldn’t communicate what feelings were from my mental issues and what feelings were normal for substance use recovery. ” 

For a while, Audrey and her husband had enough income to purchase Marketplace insurance, which covered her first pregnancy. But a series of financial setbacks put her back in the gap — and her baby into Medicaid coverage. She qualified for Medicaid herself with her second pregnancy.

Now that the baby is born, Audrey’s coverage will expire 60 days after delivery. Navigating these ins and outs, ups and downs has motivated Audrey to help others find their way. That’s why she said yes when a friend at the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program asked her to be a consumer representative for her local Alabama Coordinated Health Network (ACHN). She wants to be an “authentic voice” for consumers. “I want to educate individuals about the options they have and teach them how to have helpful conversations with their own care providers,” she says. 

While Audrey faces returning to the coverage gap when her pregnancy coverage expires, she maintains a positive outlook. “I believe things are getting better all around, and I have great hope for the future,” she says. “There are still things that need to change, but change—like recovery—takes time.”

Stories help to put a human face on the health care policy issues. By sharing your story, you help speak for people who may be facing issues just like yours.