Jennifer is a caregiver for her daughter, who has two rare chromosomal deletions, causing her to be medically complex. Among her diagnoses are intellectual disabilities, seizures, IBD and ARFID.
For the past three years, Jennifer has been provided with a stipend through Medicaid to care for her daughter. She applied for this benefit because her daughter was experiencing a lot of symptoms related to her conditions. Jennifer’s daughter could no longer care for herself, and she made the decision to leave her full-time job to get her daughter’s health turned around. With this vital benefit, Jennifer was able to leave her job and be there full time to support her daughter.
At the beginning of 2025, the benefit reassessment process deemed that Jennifer’s daughter did not meet the level of care required and subsequently denied her Medicaid coverage. Jennifer successfully appealed this decision, but she is still waiting for the benefits to be reinstated. In the meantime, without proper healthcare coverage, the family has experienced huge financial stress and burden.
Jennifer fought hard to get these benefits back because she had no other choice. The cost of care for her daughter would and is burying the family financially. However, while they continued to wait, with bills mounting, Jennifer had to find a part-time job taking her away from providing vital care to her daughter.
Cutting Medicaid would cause Jennifer, her daughter and the whole family mental, psychological and financial distress. It would change their lives forever, taking away Jennifer’s ability to care for her daughter and her daughter’s stability and safety at home.
“Why would you want to harm innocent people who can’t really defend themselves by cutting Medicaid? People like my daughter need help and care, especially from family members who want to care for them and want to see them flourish in life.”