Local families head to DC to fight Medicaid cuts
The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the sweeping budget bill that reportedly cuts $600 billion from Medicaid and would eventually reduce enrollment by millions.
Missing 7-year-old paddleboarder found, and he only had one question
New Franklin mother Wendy Wilson is planning to go to Washington with her daughter Mia, 14, representing University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.
Since birth, Mia has had a critical heart defect called Ebstein's anomaly. Wendy said she wasn't able to be repaired, meaning her heart is not fixed.
More than once she was at risk of dying.
Although she does enjoy activities including boating, going to concerts and just having fun, Mia is on a daily routine that includes breathing treatments twice a day, feeding tubes and about 40 doses of medication every day.
Her mother left her work when Mia was young so she could care for her.
Her father has a good job with insurance, but Mia's condition keeps them from getting any other insurance.
'I haven't checked recently, but the last time I checked, it was around $5,000 a month for just her medicine,' said Wendy.
That does not include all of the additional costs.
They qualified for assistance through Medicaid through a state program that picks up a large portion of the cost.
Without it, Wendy said they could be at risk of losing their home.
Akron Children's Hospital will be represented in Akron by Stephanie Hill of Twinsburg and her 2-year-old daughter Amaiyah.
At 17 months old, Amaiyah accidentally swallowed some baby oil while she was taking a bath.
Although it did not immediately show signs of significantly impacting the toddler, within a short time, she started to experience breathing problems and was eventually admitted to Akron Children's Hospital where she spent 152 days.
During that time, her condition became so serious that there was consideration of Amaiyah needing a double lung transplant.
'As we were waiting to hear back from her insurance, we got word that they denied it, but that very same day was the day she started getting better and better,' said Stephanie.
In February, Amaiyah was released from the hospital. On Friday — having celebrated her second birthday just this week — she appeared to have suffered no ill effects from that episode.
Without Medicaid, she may not have had access to the health care that helped her recover.
Remains found in search for missing teen last seen at airport
Chris Gessner, CEO of Akron Children's Hospital, said about 54% of the patients at his hospital are helped by Medicaid, which he believes is about the norm across the state.
'I think its been proven, evidence-based, that kids who have access to high quality health care services do much better long-term and and the Medicaid program is wonderful from a benefit perspective in terms of what it covers,' Gessner said.
'It would be a real problem for us. I mean, with over half of our business with Medicaid, we pay a lot of attention when they start talking about Medicaid cuts,' Gessner told FOX 8 News.
'From my perspective, we understand the need to balance the budget and be responsible with resources, but we really don't want to see that done by cutting into the future of our country — our kids' health,' he added.
As the debate over Medicaid cuts continues in Washington, he hopes federal lawmakers understand how the program has a direct impact on the welfare of young lives.
When discussing the budget bill, President Donald Trump has defended the need to make cuts to Medicaid.
'The only thing we are cutting is waste, fraud and abuse from Medicaid,' Trump said, discussing his 'big beautiful bill' on May 30.
Among the lawmakers who the Hill family knows they will be speaking with directly is Ohio's Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to fill the term of now Vice President J.D. Vance.
FOX 8 News reached out to Husted's office on Wednesday and was sent a written statement which reads:
'We need to save Medicaid. And saving Medicaid means you have to make it financially sustainable. We want to make sure that children, people with disabilities and the people who are really in need have this program available to them. To do that, able-bodied, healthy Americans without dependents have to give back to their communities in return for the benefits they're getting. America has a $36 trillion national debt, so we have to be smart about finding savings in order to protect these programs.'
Participating in a Democratic news conference about Medicaid on May 20, U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown of Cleveland said she will do everything within her power to preserve the program.
'In my state of Ohio, the state government has already said that if these cuts are enacted under state law, they would end the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion in our state, so what does that mean? It means 770,000 people will lose their health care. That's an entire congressional district in just one state. This is suffering on a massive scale and it's going to hurt people of all backgrounds,' said Brown.
Sobriety checkpoints Friday: Here's where in Northeast Ohio
Next week's trip to Washington, D.C., is sponsored by the Children's Hospital Association, an organization that represents 150 hospitals across the country.
It is an annual trip the organization schedules each year, giving each member hospital the opportunity to nominate one family as their representative.
Among the other things for which they are advocating is access to pediatric hospitals, which Gessner said is particularly concerning in many rural areas of the country.
They will also be advocating for what they describe as the 'growing youth mental health crisis.'
But for Medicaid, the Northeast Ohio families that are going hope they can show firsthand how important the program has been for them.
'We have good insurance and it's still just not enough. With the health care costs and the way the policies run, [Mia] can't get insurance anywhere else,' said Wilson.
'Mia's never gone without something that she needed, but I also realize that's not the case for everybody.
'Thank God we are in a position where we are surrounded by a community that literally has helped us pay for these things when we didn't have coverage — but not everybody is in that position.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
8 minutes ago
Dozens of OB-GYNs fled Idaho after its abortion ban. Medicaid cuts could make access to care even worse.
More than six months after Idaho's near-total abortion ban went into effect, a small town nestled in the state's northern mountain ranges lost its labor and delivery service -- and access to such care could now be imperiled further by looming Medicaid cuts. Bonner General Health, located in Sandpoint, Idaho, announced in March 2023 that it would no longer provide obstetrical care, citing the state's "legal and political climate" as one of the factors that drove the decision. Abortions in Idaho are illegal except in the cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. The hospital in the city of around 10,000 people was one of three health systems in Idaho to shutter their labor and delivery services in recent years. The state has lost over a third of its OB-GYNs -- 94 of 268 -- since the ban was enacted in 2022, according to a new study in medical journal JAMA Network Open. Local health care providers and advocates ABC News spoke with said that Medicaid cuts could put additional labor and delivery services at risk of closing -- adding further pressure to Idaho's already strained maternal and reproductive health care system. More than 350,000 of the state's residents are insured by Medicaid, including those covered by the expansion plan voters approved through a ballot measure in 2018. Idaho was already seeking federal approval to institute its own work requirements after Gov. Brad Little signed a Medicaid cost bill this spring. Under the federal changes, the state could lose $3 billion in funding over the next decade and 37,000 residents could lose coverage, according to analysis by KFF. "We are living with the consequences of when you criminalize practicing medicine, you lose doctors, and I think that, coupled with these cuts at the federal level, are going to prove devastating for Idaho's already precarious rural health system," Melanie Folwell, the executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, the group spearheading a ballot initiative to restore abortion rights, told ABC News. After Bonner General closed its obstetric services, Kootenai Health, located an hour south, inherited its patients, which included residents across the northern tip of the state. Some women now have to drive two to three hours to get prenatal care or to deliver at Kootenai, according to one of its OB-GYNs, Dr. Brenna McCrummen. Traveling that far for care, especially in cases of complications, can endanger women and infants, McCrummen noted. "There have been patients that have delivered on the side of the road because they're not able to get to the hospital in time. There have been babies that have gone to the NICU who didn't do as well as they probably would have had they not had to travel long distances," she told ABC News. The loss of OB-GYNs in the state has hit rural areas like those in the north especially hard, the JAMA Network Open study noted. A vast majority of the remaining physicians providing obstetric care are concentrated in Idaho's seven most populated counties, leaving only 23 OB-GYNs to serve a population of over half a million across the rest of the state, according to the study. Those giving birth aren't the only ones affected by the shortage of physicians. OB-GYNs like McCrummen have packed schedules, leading to long wait times for other reproductive care. Patients seeking annual exams, for instance, often have to book five months in advance, McCrummen explained. These exams provide vital preventive health services, such as screenings for cervical and breast cancer. Across the U.S., more than 35% of counties are maternity care deserts -- areas that lack obstetrics clinicians -- according to Dr. Michael Warren, the chief medical and health officer of the March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health. Reductions to Medicaid funding could exacerbate the problem, Warren told ABC News. "The worry is that as these changes are happening in the Medicaid space, it's going to be harder, particularly for rural hospitals, to maintain those obstetric services, and if they discontinue those, we've got more maternity care deserts, and we've got a greater risk of both moms and babies having worse outcomes," Warren said. The Medicaid cuts were passed into law in July as part of President Donald Trump's massive tax and policy bill. Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican who serves as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, defended the bill in a press release earlier this month, saying that "targeting waste, fraud and abuse in the program ensures that it stays financially viable for the populations who need it most." Crapo has also argued that the legislation's $50 billion rural hospital fund is the "largest investment in decades in rural health care." In Idaho, Medicaid covers around a third of births, according to data from March of Dimes. Even before cuts to coverage, labor and delivery units were difficult to keep open, Toni Lawson, a vice president of the Idaho Hospital Association, told ABC News. Lawson explained that such units require "special equipment" and "specially trained staff" on call, which is expensive to maintain -- especially in rural areas with lower birth volumes and where Medicaid reimburses less than cost. Additionally, she said, hospitals have had difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified OB-GYNs amidst Idaho's abortion restrictions. As a result, looming reductions to Medicaid funding could push these healthcare systems over the edge, according to Lawson. "What you'll see in Idaho, before you see hospitals close, is we'll have more closures of labor and delivery services," she said. These cuts could also worsen outcomes for the women who lose coverage, physician assistant specialist Amy Klingler explained. "If patients don't have access to insurance and they don't have access to Medicaid, sometimes they delay prenatal care, we don't catch complications early enough, and it puts the baby and the mother's lives at risk," Klingler, who works in a small mountain town in central Idaho, told ABC News. The two problems can compound -- Klingler noted that the risk of not catching complications early on is heightened when the same women also have to travel further to receive care. While she is able to provide prenatal care to her patients, the closest hospital that can deliver babies is a 60-mile drive from her clinic -- a route she says that lacks cell service for 45 miles. "So in the best circumstances, it takes planning and forethought. And then when things are serious and complicated, it's much more dangerous," Klingler said. "Complicated pregnancies in Idaho are the scary ones right now," she added. In cases when the mother's health becomes at risk, health providers say that the state's abortion ban limits the emergency care they are able to provide. A state court issued a ruling in April slightly expanding the medical exception to the ban in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, but advocates still argue the existing law constricts physicians' ability to supply adequate care. The organization Idahoans United for Women and Families is currently gathering signatures to get a measure on the ballot in 2026 to return the state to the standard of abortion access it had before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. However, Lawson said "there is no silver bullet" to solve depleted access to maternal and reproductive care. "It is going to have to be a combination of things and certainly removing barriers to recruitment is an important part of that," she said, adding that the state must also address rural hospitals' precarious financial position amid the projected loss of Medicaid funding. Breana Lipscomb, the senior manager of maternal health and rights at advocacy group the Center for Reproductive Rights, noted that all of these factors are "working in tandem" to restrict access. "It's making health care even further out of reach for people, and this is particularly concerning for Black people, for people living in rural areas, for low income folks and for people with capacity to birth," Lipscomb said. "I am really afraid of what we might see," she added.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Feds direct Pennsylvania and other states to check immigration status of their Medicaid enrollees
Priscilla Luna holds her 3 year-old daughter Avery Dahl, while she gets the MMR vaccine from Raynard Covarrubio at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by) This week, the Trump administration's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an effort to check the immigration status of people who get their health insurance through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Medicaid is the public health insurance program for people with low incomes that's jointly funded by states and the federal government. For families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance, CHIP is a public program that provides low-cost health coverage for their children. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The feds will begin sending Pennsylvania and other states monthly enrollment reports that identify people with Medicaid or CHIP whose immigration or citizenship status can't be confirmed through federal databases. States are then responsible for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals in those reports. States are expected to take 'appropriate actions when necessary, including adjusting coverage or enforcing non-citizen eligibility rules,' according to a CMS press release. 'We are tightening oversight of enrollment to safeguard taxpayer dollars and guarantee that these vital programs serve only those who are truly eligible under the law,' Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees CMS as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a press release announcing the new program. As of April, roughly 71 million adults and children nationwide have Medicaid coverage, while another 7 million children have insurance through CHIP. Immigrants under age 65 are less likely to be covered by Medicaid than U.S.-born citizens, according to an analysis from health research organization KFF. States scramble to shield hospitals from GOP Medicaid cuts Immigrants who are in the country illegally aren't eligible for federally funded Medicaid and CHIP. Only citizens and certain lawfully present immigrants — green card holders and refugees, for example — can qualify. But some states have chosen to expand Medicaid coverage for immigrants with their own funds. Pennsylvania and 22 other states offer pregnancy-related care regardless of citizenship or immigration status, according to KFF. Fourteen states provide coverage for children in low-income families regardless of immigration status, while seven states offer coverage to some adults regardless of status. The tax and spending package President Donald Trump last month cuts federal spending on Medicaid by more than $1 trillion, leaving states to either make up the difference with their own funds or reduce coverage. But the new law also includes restrictions on coverage for certain immigrants, including stripping eligibility from refugees and asylum-seekers. Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at avollers@ Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
7 hours ago
- USA Today
If you live in these states, your health care won't be as big or beautiful
Democratic-leaning states will feel more of the impact of sweeping Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a new analysis by Oxford Economics. The report, authored by lead economist Barbara Denham, says that millions of Americans – regardless of where they live – will lose access to health insurance because of the tighter eligibility rules and new work requirements. Immigrants will be disproportionately affected, with many losing coverage under Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program. States such as California and New York – which have both expanded Medicaid and have large immigrant populations – are expected to be hit hardest. Other vulnerable states with large immigrant populations include Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. 'Federal funding cuts and the expiration of the Marketplace subsidies will have several economic consequences,' Denham wrote. 'The number of newly uninsured will rise significantly, putting more at risk of worse long-term well-being, which will sap productivity growth' States with the highest percentage of residents enrolled in Medicaid Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. The new law limits federal matching funds for noncitizens' medical care, shifting the financial burden to state governments and hospitals. That's particularly concerning for states with high percentages of foreign-born residents, many of whom rely on Medicaid. The federal cuts to Medicaid funding come at a time when states are looking to trim their spending, too. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported California has paused enrolling new immigrants in its health coverage program while Illinois has stopped state-funded health benefits for all immigrant adults between 42 to 64. States such as Idaho and Tennessee also enacted legislation limiting immigrant access to state health care benefits. States with the highest percentage of foreign-born residents Since 2012, 40 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under federal initiatives. But with the expiration of marketplace subsidies and new restrictions on immigrant coverage, a handful of states now face the steepest declines in federal health care funding. Based on Oxford Economics' analysis of Congressional Budget Office and KFF data, more left-leaning states will lose more money per resident as the new law rolls out, but right-leaning Louisiana stands to lose the most ($5,855 per resident) of any state. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Wyoming – states that didn't expand their Medicaid benefits – will see some of the smallest cuts. How much Medicaid funding each state is projected to lose per resident Some states have passed laws to buffer their residents or their budgets against federal cuts. For example: ◾ Their residents: New York, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota require coverage for adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line. ◾ Their budgets: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia tie Medicaid spending to federal funding levels.
