Raychel Ward: Medicaid Is a Lifeline for Rural Maine Families

Raychel Ward lives in Livermore Falls, Maine, where she cares for her three medically complex children while her husband works full time. Her youngest child, Bryan, was born with hyperinsulinism, a condition that causes his body to produce more insulin than his available blood sugar can process. The result is dangerously low blood sugar levels that require ongoing treatment.

“His medications are like $440 a month, which Medicaid covers for us, but without Medicaid, it would be virtually impossible to receive or access those medications,” Raychel said. She added, “It’s very scary.”

If Congress dismantled the Affordable Care Act and gutted Medicaid—known in Maine as MaineCare and CubCare—Raychel said it would be nearly impossible for her family to function. “Between the general increase in cost of living here and the fact that the state of Maine also has tax on our prescriptions on top of the regular cost of them… even coming up with that $450 would be very difficult,” she explained. Without access to Bryan’s medication, they could face $10,000 a day in NICU stays.

Raychel and her husband face difficult financial decisions even with one full-time income. Raychel cares for her children full-time and volunteers with groups like the Maine State Parent Ambassadors and serves on the Beneficiary Advisory Council for MaineCare. Although her husband’s job offers insurance, it is not a viable option for their family. “It would eat three quarters of his paycheck to cover our entire family. That wouldn’t leave enough to pay our household expenses between the mortgage, the light bill, transportation costs,” Raychel said. “We live in a rural part of Maine where there isn’t even a taxi service or access to Uber. So, without a vehicle, you don’t have access to even groceries or health care.”

Raychel has seen how Medicaid supports all three of her children. Her oldest daughter at 10-years-old, Ahshliee, was born with congenital hip dysplasia and lives with autism and ADHD. “My oldest had three hip surgeries before her first birthday. She will forever be in physical therapy and occupational therapy to help with those,” Raychel said. Her six-year-old, Winter, also has autism and ADHD and relies on speech and occupational therapy and counseling, “which if we were to not have access to those things,” Raychel shared, “it would definitely affect her quality of life and her ability to learn how to adapt to the world around her.”

Raychel shared her frustration with proposals to add work or volunteer requirements to Medicaid eligibility, particularly when so many families are already under strain. She also mentioned hearing about a proposed registry for individuals with autism. “They also want to put me and my children on a registry because we have autism, which is just, it’s way out there,” she said.

If given the chance to speak directly to lawmakers in Washington, Raychel said she would bring pictures of her son and explain the difference between covering his $450 monthly medication costs versus paying for $10,000-a-day hospital stays. “That would not only bankrupt our family, but if I were to go through bankruptcy, would end up falling on taxpayers anyway,” she said. “Even as a taxpayer, I would rather see my tax dollars pay $450 for a six-month-old’s medication than $10,000 a day for NICU stays.”

She concluded by underscoring how essential Medicaid is for families like hers across the state. “I think it’s really important that we keep Medicaid, especially for a state like Maine, where most of our state lives on poverty wages,” she said. “We’re also watching rural critical care access hospitals close left and right because they can’t afford to function anymore.”

Raychel called on federal policymakers to step back and reexamine the health care system. “If we could take a minute, just a minute, on a federal level to evaluate our entire health care system and see what works and what doesn’t work and actually make the system work for Americans, that would be amazing.”