Jennifer Taskey: Moving Forward Through Hardship Thanks to Medicaid

Jennifer Taskey has turned to Medicaid during some of the most challenging moments in her life. Now 41 and living in Cleveland, Ohio, with her three children, she reflects on how vital that support has been. For her, Medicaid has often meant the difference between stability and crisis, between receiving care and going without.

She first enrolled in 2003 at age 19, pregnant with her first child, single, unemployed, and not yet in school. Since then, she has looked to Medicaid during several periods of hardship and transition.

Over the years, Jennifer has moved in and out of Medicaid coverage depending on her work situation. After going to school for medical assisting, she held decent jobs that sometimes made her ineligible. But when she struggled with addiction and couldn’t work, Medicaid became her only safety net. “During active use, everything falls apart,” she said. “Medicaid was the only way my kids and I had any health care at all.”

Jennifer carries the physical reminders of her past. She has a leg wound from her active addiction period, but she has been on medication-assisted treatment since 2023. Medicaid has covered Jennifer’s Suboxone treatment since 2023, a vital part of her recovery. “I could not afford it without that,” she said. “It’s crucial.”

She also struggles with chronic PTSD, ADHD and is currently seeking an autism diagnosis. Her children have their own medical needs—her youngest has required treatment at a constipation clinic, and her middle son, now 14, has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and is immune compromised. He needs regular blood work and close monitoring. “He’s been asymptomatic for about a year now, but the doctor wants to keep close tabs on him because it can come back up in puberty especially,” she said.

Blood work. Dental care. Crowns for grinding her teeth. Treatment for her youngest son’s severe gastrointestinal difficulties. Medicaid has made it possible to address all of it.

Jennifer is doing everything right to try and move forward. She recently completed a program to become a certified peer support specialist for people with substance use and mental health challenges.

“The next step in that is taking the 40 hours Zoom class, and then after that I take a test and then I can get a job. So that’s where I’m at with that right now. And obviously having medical coverage during this time is crucial, crucial for me until I get a job,” she said.

She fears what could happen if Medicaid coverage is taken away from people like her.

“I have a lot of fear about if this goes through and I know people will die and that’s not to be dramatic. We know that studies have shown that if people don’t have the proper health care that bad things will happen,” Jennifer said.

She knows many families face greater hardships than hers, but she still counts her blessings. Her oldest son, now 21, was raised on Medicaid and food stamps. He’s about to start law school at the University of Pennsylvania.

“That proves that these programs help, they can help,” she said.

She is aware that depending on the state, some exemptions may remain for parents and caregivers of medically complex children. But she knows that the system is already complicated, and that new eligibility checks and red tape could cause harm.

“I believe there’s no language in the bill that’s going to rip away the stipulation that parents and caregivers of especially medically complex children should be exempt from work reporting requirements, but there will be eligibility checks, all that stupid bureaucracy and red tape,” she said.

Jennifer wants policymakers to see what’s at stake when they talk about cuts or work requirements for programs like Medicaid.

“Please remember that these are real human lives you’re dealing with. We’re not just numbers on a paper. This is going to affect people and it’s going to hurt people and people will die. And that’s just, there’s no way around that,” she said.

Jennifer is moving forward, one step at a time. She is rebuilding. But she knows she couldn’t do it without Medicaid.