Medicaid Reductions Impact Families ‘Striving to Keep Children Alive’: A Mother’s Perspective

() As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., remain deadlocked over health care spending at the federal level, a similar fight has played out in state houses across the country.

North Carolina and Idaho have recently cut Medicaid payments to providers to help fill budget gaps. Washington state has also cut funds to Medicaid, and Michigan and Pennsylvania are reportedly weighing similar moves.

The cuts have raised significant concerns among caregivers who depend on Medicaid, like North Carolina mother Alessandra Fabrello.

Fabrello has been a medical caretaker for her 18-year-old son with a rare brain cancer condition since he was 9 months old. She said her lawmakers’ decisions will cost her family in-home care and other health services.

“We are parents that are fighting to keep our children alive, and same time, we are fighting to keep ourselves alive,” Fabrello told . “And Medicaid is that lifeline.”

Her son, Ysadore Maklakoff, qualifies for Medicaid funds that help keep medical supplies and equipment in the home and for everyday medical needs, such as dental care.

“So parents like myself are providing 24-hour care to our children, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” Fabrello said. “And not being able to have access to nursing care is extremely, extremely difficult when you now cut those rates even further, that puts an even greater strain on being able to find nurses in home.”

Fabrello called on lawmakers to put aside party politics and put “the lives of our most vulnerable and fragile” first.