CUTLER BAY, Fla. — Policarpo Landaverde's series of bad breaks seemed to peak about a decade ago when he was shot in the stomach after confronting a man who stole his license plate.
But on a recent afternoon, as he struggled to explain a cascading list of ailments to a nurse, he was dealing with a more fundamental crisis: He lives in Florida, one of the hardest places in the country for poor adults to obtain health insurance.
"Basically, you really got to be homeless," said his daughter Crystal Landaverde, who took a day off from her job to help him. "You really got to be borderline, about to lose it all, for them to really help you."
