In October 2020, a family living in Memphis welcomed their baby born with a rare genetic disorder. The disorder presents complex health complications, including severe heart defects. In the first few days of their life, the newborn had to undergo several open-heart surgeries, needed a G-tube, and was not expected to be able to attend daycare due to the high level of care that was needed. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the parents worried what their baby’s future would be.
Even though both parents had insurance through their jobs, this private insurance did not sufficiently cover the nursing hours their child needed. As a result, one parent had to quit their job, causing significant financial stress- which is the last thing you want with a newborn and a pandemic.
The family calculated that if the parent went back to work to keep their employer insurance, they would spend almost their entire income paying for nursing care. They said it would cost about $100,000 a year for private-duty nursing, which is completely unaffordable for most families.
This is where Medicaid comes in. Through the Katie Beckett Waiver, this family was eligible for TennCare since they had a child with high medical needs.
The family has never been eligible for state benefits before, and they had never expected to need “welfare.” Even with well-paying jobs with private insurance, they still needed help to meet their child’s complex medical needs. Without TennCare, they would have been forced to take on hundreds of thousands of medical debt, or let their baby suffer. Cuts to Medicaid will mean that more and more families could be stuck in this situation. This will lead to terrible health outcomes for children and families and place more people under financial stress in an already difficult time.