The proposed cuts to Medicaid are unacceptable. As a health care worker at a St. Louis nursing home and a proud union member, the choice to abandon folks in need of lifesaving care goes against everything I am trained to protect. Medicaid is a lifesaving tool that folks can wield in times of trouble.
Real folks and real lives, including my nephews with disabilities, my postpartum daughter, and my senior residents. On behalf of my family and my residents, I ask our Republican congressional representatives: If Republican Sen. Josh Hawley can understand the value of Medicaid, why can’t you? Seventeen years ago, my sister gave birth to twin boys with disabilities.
Because my nephews require extra care and frequent doctor visits, my sister can sustain only a part-time job, making Medicaid their primary source of insurance coverage. When the boys started schooling, my nephews were so smart, but their struggles in behavioral and mental health hindered their academic performance. Thankfully, Medicaid finances Individualized Education Programs for students with disabilities.
Doctors stepped in and guided my nephews with therapy and medication so they could successfully participate in regular school classroom settings. This essential care allowed my nephews to grow into productive young men in society. They truly excel in school today, with their phenomenal intelligence finally shining through — all due to the gift of Medicaid.
But Medicaid is bigger than just my nephews. Some 612,000 children in Missouri rely on Medicaid for services ranging from annual check-ups to specialized care. Don’t take health care away from them.
These children deserve to be healthy and happy. Additionally, one of the most important aspects of Medicaid’s coverage is for childbirth. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to give birth, a price tag only the highest-earning Americans can begin to afford out-of-pocket.
In Missouri, more than 40% of all births are financed by Medicaid. Without it, what do we expect pregnant folks to do? When my daughter became pregnant last year, I was thrilled to be having another grandchild.
But, devastatingly, my daughter developed a high-risk pregnancy. Forced to leave her job to protect the health of her baby and herself, she no longer had her employee health insurance and relied on Medicaid for her care. My grandson entered this world two months early with a dropping heart rate and slim chances at survival.
Fortunately, the doctors were able to save him. Without the option of Medicaid for my daughter, I truly do not know where she or my grandson would be today. Beyond my family’s use of Medicaid, more than 90% of the residents at the nursing home where I work primarily rely on it to receive care.
Voting to slash Medicaid funding in the name of “cutting waste” tells me that Republican lawmakers view investing in the sick and our seniors as an unworthy cause. My senior residents will have nowhere to go if they can no longer afford nursing home care. That could be any of us one day.
Some folks have the privilege of private health insurance, but at any moment, our circumstances could change. Medicaid is a tool for folks like my family members who have experienced a life-altering situation and need some support. I am asking U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner, Jason Smith and other Missouri Republicans to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and vote to protect Medicaid.
These are the human realities of cuts to Medicaid. The majority of folks who rely on it are people who have no other choice. With more than 1.2 million Missourians relying on it, I expect our congressional members to represent them, as they were elected to do.
