Amarin Reyny lives in a group home for disabled people in Maine where direct support professionals provide care 24/7 to help them with daily needs. They depend entirely on MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program, to cover nearly all their medical care and support services. They cope with dissociative identity disorder, or DID, a condition caused by […]
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Dr. Jessica Lee
Dr. Jessica Lee, a child clinical psychologist, specializes in working with neurodivergent individuals, including those with autism and ADHD. She provides therapy, evaluations and consultations as part of an interdisciplinary team for diverse, underserved youth and families. She also leads community outreach through a Department of Developmental Services (DDS) grant to support underserved racial and […]
Paul Miller, Michigan
Paul Miller came into the world under precarious circumstances. Born a twin in 1958, he and his brother arrived early and fragile. “My mother had sepsis and almost died before we were born,” he said. The environment was hostile, but they survived. That early fight shaped how he would face everything that followed. Paul’s life has […]
Jennifer Marion, Iowa
Without Medicaid, Jennifer Marion says she doesn’t know where she’d be today. An Iowa resident, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007 at just 26 years old, Jennifer’s journey began with a terrifying symptom: sudden vision loss in her left eye. Though her sight eventually returned, MS has continued to shape her life in invisible but […]
Kay & Joel Marcel, Iowa
Kay Marcel lives in Urbandale, Iowa, where she and her husband have spent a lifetime ensuring their son Joel can live a full, safe, and meaningful life. Joel is 46 years old and has Down syndrome, along with several health conditions that require daily monitoring and consistent care. Through Iowa’s Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver […]
Schmeeka Simpson, Nebraska
Schmeeka Simpson, a 44-year-old mother of three, grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. Now living in Omaha, she works with the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table and serves as the policy fellow at the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation. In her roles, she helps shape advocacy efforts and community agendas. But long before her career in civic leadership […]
Kelly Reed, California
When Kelly Reed’s daughter, Katelyn, was born with Down syndrome, their family didn’t know much about the condition or the disability community. So, they turned to community medical centers, like the Regional Center, a statewide network in California funded largely by Medicaid, to learn more. As they began to understand Katelyn’s condition, they were able to […]
Gail Smith, New Jersey
Gail Smith lives in a nursing home in Somerset County, New Jersey, where Medicaid has sustained her here and in another facility for the past four years. “It’s been a lifeline for me,” she shared. After a near-fatal health crisis in 2021, she lost a kidney and now depends on two teams of specialists to […]
Sharon Watson, Michigan
Sharon Watson and her husband are raising three children in a small Michigan community. Their oldest is 15, their middle child 13, and their youngest—a bright, energetic girl—is 10. Her husband, a disabled Navy veteran, receives VA disability compensation as his primary income. Sharon works full-time as a special education aide at her daughter’s elementary school—a job she […]
Michele Steepleton, Iowa
Michele Steepleton never imagined she’d see her older sister Susan on the brink of losing everything including her life. But when Susan, now 60, lost her job during the pandemic, it triggered a health crisis that spiraled quickly and dangerously out of control. “She had been managing rheumatoid arthritis since her twenties and then later […]