A home care worker in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Lynn Weidner has never known life without medical debt. When her ACA subsidies disappeared and her premium rose to $865 a month, she couldn't downgrade her plan, so she cut her internet, stopped buying beef, and gave up the one family trip she takes each year.
Read Lynn’s storyJulia Rion has managed Crohn's disease since childhood, but even with employer-sponsored insurance, she spent $500 to $1,000 a month out of pocket on care, accumulating $5,000 in medical debt in a single year. After losing her job, Medicaid expansion coverage in New York gave her the stability her previous insurance couldn't, but it didn't erase the fear of what a lifetime of chronic illness could cost her.
Read Julia’s storyPriced out of her husband's employer plan, Abbey Diamond decided to stay uninsured, telling herself, "I'll just hope for the best." Then a piece of food became lodged in her throat, leading to emergency surgery and a $17,000 hospital bill she is still paying off, all while she fears what happens to her family's care once her postpartum Medicaid coverage ends.
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In 2017, Tomeka James Isaac was pregnant with her first and only son, Jace. At 40 years old, she was told early on that she would be at high risk for pre-eclampsia, yet despite this ominous warning, Tomeka’s pregnancy was progressing smoothly. Until, at her 35-week appointment, complications began.
Read Tomeka’s storyKea had a plan. Pregnant with her first child, she knew she wanted a natural birth, and she wanted her birth experience to be an experience that was unique to her. However, she felt dismissed by doctors when she made requests, and ignored at appointments. Kea switched to a birth center, and everything changed for the better.
Read Kea’s storyTamara's 18 month old grandson fell ill with a slight cough and signs mirroring COVID-19, but was not tested by his pediatrician. After his oxygen levels dropped, he was taken to the ER but was still not tested for COVID-19 due to not meeting testing criteria.
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A Waterloo, Iowa school worker, Savannah Rucker fell at work in 2024 and broke her wrist and shoulder. A canceled MRI, an unexplained $7,789 facility fee, and a lost workers' comp paper trail have kept her from surgery ever since — even as she was also treated for breast cancer.
Read Savannah’s storyPriced out of her husband's employer plan, Abbey Diamond decided to stay uninsured, telling herself, "I'll just hope for the best." Then a piece of food became lodged in her throat, leading to emergency surgery and a $17,000 hospital bill she is still paying off, all while she fears what happens to her family's care once her postpartum Medicaid coverage ends.
Read Abbey’s storyKeaton Herzer describes navigating his cancer treatment as fighting a system "designed to wear me down and get me to quit." Between insurance denials for a targeted therapy and, later, a life-saving liver transplant, he and his wife drained their savings account and spent a month appealing decisions, all while he was still living scan to scan, unsure if he would survive.
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