Latest news with #KatieBeckett
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Two parents put a face on the impact of potential Medicaid cuts
From left, parents Jessica Seawright and Brooke Wampole talk with Sen. Tammy Baldwin about their concerns over the impact of Medicaid cuts on families with children such as theirs who have disabilities. (Screenshot/Zoom) As members of Congress continue to debate the Republican budget reconciliation bill that includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, Jessica Seawright ponders what that could mean for her young son. Seawright is a social worker in Southeast Wisconsin. She's also the mother of a 9-year-old boy with complex medical needs resulting from a genetic condition. She and her husband — a college professor — have medical coverage through work, but with her son's condition, which includes cerebral palsy, their health plans could never cover the degree of care he requires. Medicaid has made the difference, Seawright said Wednesday. It's helped through the Katie Beckett program, which enables children with disabilities to have Medicaid coverage while living at home instead of being in an institution; the Medicaid children's long-term support coverage; and Medicaid support that public schools receive to cover certain services that students with disabilities require. Her son has been able to thrive living with her and her husband, Seawright said — but worry clouds the future. 'We look toward his adulthood, knowing that disability and aging programs that would support him staying in the community — where we, our family and our community, know he belongs — are being dismantled and defunded,' Seawright said. 'Forcing us and others like us into medical bankruptcy is not a solution.' Seawright was one of two parents who said Wednesday that their lives and their children's lives could be profoundly upended by the Medicaid reductions that are included in the budget reconciliation proposal. They spoke during a webinar conducted by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), who has been an outspoken critic of the budget bill's Medicaid cuts. 'Our neighbors, our friends and our colleagues at work who rely on Medicaid and are scared, really scared,' Baldwin said. She cited estimates produced by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee that with cuts to Medicaid as well as to the Affordable Care Act, the legislation could reduce health care for nearly 14 million Americans, including almost 230,000 Wisconsin residents. The money saved, she added, would be used to extend and expand tax cuts enacted in 2017, during the first Trump administration. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has said the tax cuts primarily favor the wealthy and corporations. 'It's giveaways for their wealthy friends at the cost of Americans' health and lives,' Baldwin said. 'That's the deal.' Baldwin said the choice that U.S. House Republicans made to advance the bill in committee in the early hours of Wednesday morning was a sign that 'Republicans know what they're doing is deeply unpopular.' She dismissed claims that the objective of the bill's authors was to address waste, fraud or abuse in Medicaid and other safety net programs. 'I would be happy to come to the table to write a bill that truly gets at fraud and abuse,' Baldwin said. 'We want that out of Medicaid. We want that out of Medicare. But that is not what this bill does. This bill terminates health care for Wisconsin families.' Besides being a mother of a child who has been helped by Medicaid's programs, Seawright has experienced Medicaid through two other lenses. When she and her sister were growing up, their mother was relying on Medicaid for the family's health care. That helped give the family stability so that her mom could go to community college, become a medical assistant and get full-time work in health care with insurance through her employer, Seawright said. In her own job as a social worker, she added, some of the clients she works with have Medicaid. Both her childhood experience and her role as a mental health provider have made her critical of proposals to cut Medicaid, Seawright said — especially one to add work requirements as a condition for adults considered 'able-bodied' to enroll in Medicaid. 'Creating more barriers for people to access the care they need … individuals losing their primary care providers and their specialists, from my perspective, is just a cruel response that is steeped in distrust of those of us who are doing the work day to day,' Seawright said. Also on the webinar was Brooke Wampole, who lives in northern Wisconsin. She and her husband have a 4-year-old son who was found to have long delays in his development. About two years ago he was screened and qualified for services and therapies covered by Medicaid programs for children with disabilities, and over time, his clinicians helped him first to 'exist, to self-regulate, to see the world around him and not find it to be a threat,' Wampole said. The family's regular health insurance 'could never cover the cost' those treatments required. ' Medicaid programs 'have been absolutely instrumental in our lives.' In the last year, her son has begun speaking one-syllable words. 'My favorites or Mommy and Dada,' Wampole said, then added with a smile, 'however, he is pretty partial to talking about trapezoids. And raisins.' The thought of losing Medicaid coverage 'is terrifying,' Wampole said — both because of the loss of services for her son, but also because of its impact on other families. 'I worry what our world looks like without Medicaid,' Wampole said. 'Other families, they could be way worse off … and cutting Medicaid could hurt them even more than my family. I don't want to be part of a system that contributes to that.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho's Medicaid cuts threaten our families — and our humanity
I've spent years volunteering with the Treasure Valley Down Syndrome Association, where I've walked alongside many new parents as they try to make sense of this complex system. I have always been proud that Idaho is a state that invests in the unique and individualized needs of children with disabilities, writes guest columnist Julie McConnel. (Photo courtesy of Julie McConnel) I was 43 when I received the simultaneously wonderful and intimidating news that I would be the mother of twins. Later, when it was confirmed that both boys would be born with Down syndrome, fear took the front seat. I had no idea how I would provide care for two children with disabilities. I had so many questions. To my relief, I soon discovered that Idaho had several programs in place to support our family. First, there was the Katie Beckett waiver which gave our sons access to Medicaid coverage and spared us from what would have been crushing NICU bills. Over the years, Medicaid has been the backbone of their health care — funding multiple surgeries, specialist appointments, and ongoing speech, occupational, and physical therapies. We've also benefited from waivers that help with alternative therapies, community support, personal care services, respite care and other services that have allowed our boys to be active participants in our community. Children's health services could see trims even under scaled-back Medicaid cuts These supports haven't just met our needs — they've helped shape our sons' lives. They've made it possible for them to grow up healthy, engaged, and included. I've spent years volunteering with the Treasure Valley Down Syndrome Association, where I've walked alongside many new parents as they try to make sense of this complex system. I have always been proud that Idaho is a state that invests in the unique and individualized needs of children with disabilities. That's why what's happening now in Congress is so concerning. Today, I'm scared — not for a diagnosis or a milestone, but because the services that have kept my children thriving for the past nine years are at risk. Medicaid and its optional programs — including the Katie Beckett waiver — are vulnerable to cuts, and proposed changes at the federal level threaten the very foundation of support many families depend on. It's important to understand how this system works. Medicaid currently allows states to partner with the federal government, funding essential services for individuals with disabilities. In Idaho, the federal government provides 70 cents of every dollar the state spends on Medicaid services to individuals with disabilities. This partnership helps provide life-changing support, but proposed cuts threaten this vital funding. If that funding is slashed or capped, families may be forced to go without the services their children need. Medicaid isn't just about health care — it also supports children with disabilities in public schools. My sons' paraprofessionals, aides, special education teachers, adaptive equipment and educational aids are all made possible through Medicaid funding. If these resources disappear, schools will be left scrambling to meet the needs of some of their most vulnerable students — and many of Idaho's schools, especially our rural schools won't be able to. And the need for services is only growing. The average life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has risen dramatically over the past few decades, now reaching into their 60s. With longer lives comes a greater need for long-term support — support that allows individuals to live in the community, hold jobs, maintain relationships, and enjoy lives of dignity, meaning and personal contributions. My husband and I recently visited the site of the former Willowbrook State School in New York — a haunting reminder of what can happen when families don't have the support they need. Willowbrook was an institution where people with developmental disabilities were warehoused, neglected, and abused. The facility closed in 1987, and today, the site is home to a college that promotes inclusion for individuals with disabilities and trains professionals in disability services. It's a powerful symbol of change — and a warning. We cannot forget the lessons of the past. When families are left without options, systems break down. Crisis care becomes the default. People are pushed to the margins. And the most vulnerable pay the highest price. Our country has an opportunity to stay the course — to keep investing in programs that work, that save lives, and that allow families to stay together. But that will only happen if our leaders choose to protect and prioritize Medicaid. To our elected officials in Washington: I urge you — do not turn your backs on families like mine. Preserve Medicaid and the absolutely vital services it provides. Maintain the many programs that give individuals with disabilities the chance to live full and meaningful lives. Our country has an opportunity to stay the course — to keep investing in programs that work, that save lives, and that allow families to stay together. The decisions made in Washington will determine whether individuals with disabilities continue to receive the care they need and deserve. Medicaid has long been a cornerstone or that support. It is critical that our representatives understand just how much is at stake — for families, for communities, and for the future we are building together. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
