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 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 […]
Crystal Foster had a complicated pregnancy resulting in severe long-term health issues for her son, Tyler. Tyler is now 29 years old, and Crystal has been his caregiver for his entire life. “From the moment he was born, my only goal was to care for him at home. The thought of him being housed in […]
George Goodsaid has been the primary caregiver for his parents for the past six years. He helps them with many of their daily tasks, including personal care, household tasks, transportation to medical appointments and managing medications. His mother is 78 years old, and his father is 67 years old with diabetes. His father also had […]
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 […]
Heidi Riley, a retired financial services professional from Point Pleasant, New Jersey, has watched her brother’s life change dramatically due to serious illness, and she has seen firsthand how Medicaid has played a critical role in keeping him alive. Her brother, a retired self-employed business owner, lives alone in Jackson and has multiple chronic conditions, […]
Hannah Johnson lives in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, in Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr.’s district. She relies on Medicaid to care for her physical and mental health while working hard to support her community. Hannah works for a local nonprofit to raise awareness about mental health. She also holds a job with a local business, interacting with […]
Rachel Peace, a 32-year-old small business owner and her 36-year-old sister Brittany, both born and raised at the Jersey Shore, rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs. Rachel and her four-year-old son are enrolled in New Jersey FamilyCare, while Brittany receives coverage through Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Disability. Brittany faces serious mental health […]
Frank Ogrodowski a 35-year-old of Brick, New Jersey, helps care for his younger sister Jenna, a 27-year-old living with Down syndrome. From birth, Jenna has faced extraordinary challenges, including a hole in her heart that required five open heart surgeries before she was even two years old. Her heart remains fragile, and her care requires […]
Melinda Magdalene Wings is a retired hospice nurse who knows the value of compassionate care. Today, she’s advocating not for her patients, but for her own parents, Ivan and Kay both 86 years old, who live in a care facility in Newton, Iowa, the town where they were born and raised. “They’ve been in love […]