RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) — Two Richmond mothers say their children with disabilities have lost Medicaid coverage following federal changes to the program.
Raelynn Gammell, 9, was born with VACTERL association, a condition that impacts many of her body’s systems. She is legally disabled and has historically always qualified for Medicaid.
“Because I’m a single parent, we’ve always relied on home nursing, which is paid for through Medicaid,” said Megan Gammell, a nurse and Raelynn’s mother.
Coverage dropped during hospitalization
Gammell said that after the federal spending bill pushed by the Trump administration passed last summer, she has had to fight to get her daughter’s coverage back three times.
“She was on life support, and I remember the social worker coming and talking to me and telling me that her insurance had dropped her. We didn’t think that she was going to survive, and they were dropping her due to Medicaid changes and cuts,” Gammell said.
The changes have left some parents of children with disabilities across Kentucky without coverage for thousands of dollars of treatments.
Another mother describes rationing care
Breanna Murphy, a nurse and mother of four-year-old Colson, said she is facing the same situation.
“What can I do? It’s like I’m going to have to ration what therapies we do,” Murphy said.
More people are still at risk of losing federal financial assistance. Last month, the Trump administration said it plans to remove an additional 760,000 people enrolled in Affordable Care Act subsidies, claiming fraud. It is unclear how many Kentuckians would be affected.
“We’re already scarce on places we can take people, especially on the spectrum. He didn’t ask for all of this specialty care, and it’s not fair for them, it’s not fair,” Murphy said.
And, with additional changes to Medicaid coming next year, many families say they fear losing even more of their coverage.
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