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After developing severe preeclampsia at 30 weeks, Hannah Novy spent 16 days hospitalized while her daughter spent 41 in the NICU — and because their coverage renewed mid-stay, the family now faces bills from two separate plan years. Despite having insurance, Hannah estimates they could owe at least $30,000, with no clear way to pay it.
Michael Best spent 35 years helping others through housing insecurity and crisis, but nothing prepared him for the cost of his own stroke recovery. Between speech therapy he can't afford and loans he'll be paying off for years, he says no one should go into lifelong debt for basic care.
Regina Dixon's health coverage lapsed just one day before she needed emergency gallbladder surgery, leaving her facing a $28,000 hospital bill. She's now racing to scrape together an $814 COBRA payment while juggling rent, car payments, and confusing, unitemized medical bills.
Jeff Schledewitz retired early after pancreatic cancer left him with neuropathy, only to find his family's premiums spike to $45,000 a year once tax credits disappeared. Now he's importing medical supplies from overseas and watching his doctor ration his treatment schedule to fit what insurance will actually pay for.
After growing up without medical or dental care through foster care, the justice system, and incarceration, Nature Jackson had to teach herself as an adult what basic family health care even looked like. Now living with injuries from domestic violence and mounting medical debt, she says she still struggles to get treated with dignity, insurance or not.
For a single mom managing her own health conditions while raising a four-year-old, Medicaid isn't optional — it's what keeps her family from falling apart. Mellisa Craig describes months of confusion and fear as Nebraska rolled out new work requirements, with even state workers unable to explain how the changes would affect her.
For a chef from Jacksonville, health insurance has always come and gone with employment, leaving him uninsured for stretches as long as a year and a half at a time. A free and charitable clinic ended up treating not just his dental emergency but an ongoing medical issue insurance gaps had left unresolved.
For a year, worsening neurological symptoms have kept Heidi out of work, and every test or treatment she tries to find an answer adds to a mounting pile of medical debt, including an $8,000 bill for just two IVIG infusions. She still doesn't have a diagnosis, and she doesn't know what the next step in her care will cost.
Lisa Long has managed a rare, incurable joint disease for 25 years, but a 36% jump in her ACA marketplace premium has forced her to take on extra work just to stay covered. Now she and her husband are weighing whether losing access to her specialists is a risk they can afford to take.
After nearly three months hospitalized with Covid, Maria Taylor now manages chronic illness while watching her diabetes medications triple in price. With her husband relying on Medicaid for his epilepsy and diabetes, the Davenport, Iowa family lives with constant uncertainty about whether they can afford the care that keeps them both alive.