Jill Snow: Managing Her Son’s Medical Mysteries with Medicaid

Jill is a single mother raising two teenagers, supporting them on her own without assistance from their father. Her son James is a senior in high school and will soon turn 18. His medical challenges make this milestone especially difficult.

“James, my 17-year-old, got in a car accident last year, and he had an accident on the football field. So, he’s had a lot of medical issues. And we are seeing specialist after specialist and doctors after doctors.” James’s health has remained uncertain ever since. “We’ve been able to see some of our rural doctors here at our rural hospital, which has been nice. But we do have to make the trip up to U of M and Mott’s and long waits on that, which has been hard. And with his accident, he’s had a lot of medical issues where there’s a lot of unknowns. So, they’ve been running a lot of tests. They thought he was having seizures, and now they’re not quite sure if there’s seizures or if he’s got a sleeping disorder. So it’s just been a lot of just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

The ongoing medical mysteries have stretched on for months due to a lack of appointment availability. When he ages out of his pediatric doctors at 18, they will face new challenges finding and transitioning to an adult medicine care team. James’s condition affects every part of his life. He misses school and struggles to keep up with his new job. Jill arranges appointments at the end of the day when possible, so he misses less class time, but the long drives still take a toll.

For Jill, every medical bill or trip to the doctor forces a tradeoff. She said she often asks herself whether to take James to an appointment or let him have something as simple as new shoes for football. Sometimes her kids miss out on team dinners or school pictures because the money has already gone toward gas, tests, or medications. Medicaid, she said, makes it possible for her not to always choose between their health and their childhood.

Managing James’s care is only possible because of this coverage. “I do have insurance for my job that I pay for, but I also get Medicaid for him, which is so vital.” The cost of tests, new medications and long trips pile up quickly. Without Medicaid covering co-pays and filling the gaps, Jill said she would have to choose between her son’s health and basic needs for her family. “That’s what kind of gives me a breath of fresh air at night and allows me to kind of sleep…It’s comforting that it’s there and that I don’t have to worry.”

Through accidents, unanswered medical questions and constant financial pressure, Jill still manages to move forward. “I’m so close. Like I’m almost over the hump of being able to not live paycheck to paycheck.”

In their rural community, Medicaid is not just important, it is essential. “Medicaid plays a huge, I mean, ginormous role in our community. There are a lot of people that I don’t think could survive without it. Like me, they use it just as a crutch trying to get forward in life. If you pull that, I’m going to fall. Pull that crutch and I’m going to fall. And I’m so close to walking.”