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Local families meet with legislators, advocating against Medicaid cuts
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJW) – Local families are among dozens from across the country at the nation's capital on Thursday meeting with lawmakers to advocate against budget cuts to Medicaid.
Mia Wilson, 14, of New Franklin, is in Washington with her family where they met with Senators Bernie Moreno, Jon Husted as well as Representatives Amelia Sykes and Michael Rulli.
As FOX 8 shared on Friday, Wilson was born with a critical heart defect and on more than one occasion there were concerns she might not survive.
She continues to endure daily breathing treatments along with other procedures. Her mother said Mia takes 40 doses of medication each day, totaling thousands of dollars a month.
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Although her family has health insurance, she has also been helped through Medicaid.
After meeting with legislators on Thursday, her mother said she believes Mia's story made an impression.
'I'm actually very surprised at the amount of time that the representatives and the senators have given us. They are obviously very, very busy and it's just been great,' said her mother, Wendy.
Also in Washington representing Akron Children's Hospital is two-year-old Amaiyah Hill of Twinsburg.
Amaiyah accidentally swallowed baby oil when she was being bathed at home. Complications resulted in an extended hospital stay, during which it was at one time believed she would need a double lung transplant.
She was able to have access to the care she needed because of Medicaid.
On Thursday, her mother, Stephanie Hill, sharing her heartwarming, inspirational story and 'triumph' with Ohio's senators and Representative Sykes.
'I am telling them to do whatever they can to keep Medicaid. It's extremely important to a lot of families in this country,' she said.
The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the budget bill which now resides in the Senate.
There is pressure from the president for lawmakers to sign off on what he has called his 'big, beautiful bill'
But the Children's Hospital Association, which has organized Family Advocacy Day for the past 20 years, hopes legislators are also paying attention to what their constituents are saying.
'The executive branch plays a key roll here for sure, but what I would love for lawmakers to do is really to listen critically to the children that have shared their stories. They are sharing stories of survival, their stories of resilience and hope and I really would hope that they'd be able to carry that forward when they're having these important discussions,' said Dr. Torey Mack, the organization's chief medical officer.
They are also advocating for specific provisions within the program.
On Friday, Chris Gessner, the CEO of Akron Children's Hospital, said as much as 54% of the hospital's patients benefit from Medicaid and the proposed cuts would be devastating.
'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,' said Gessner.
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FOX 8 also reached out to Husted, who responded with a statement:
'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.'
Families were also expected to meet with Representative Shontel Brown of Cleveland who, in an earlier news conference, said she would do everything possible to preserve Medicaid.
'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 healthcare. 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.
The Children's Hospital Association represents roughly 200 hospitals across the country.
Sixty of them sent families to Washington on Thursday where they were also advocating for access to pediatric hospitals, which Gessner said is particularly concerning in many rural areas of the country.
They are also advocating for continued support for staffing at children's hospitals and support for what they describe as the 'growing youth mental health crisis.'
'What I would say is that children really are key to our future, so when we think about making cuts, the children shouldn't be on the chopping block. When I say that it's all of our children, they deserve access to care. They deserve a specialized treatment that children's hospitals are able to provide. We really hope to be able to get that across,' said Mack.
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