Medicaid
After her pregnancy and postpartum period, Lakeisha. an essential worker for the government, no longer qualified for Medicaid. When she was hospitalized for walking pnemonia and nable to receive short-term disability, Lakeisha was forced to take out loans to cover her medical bills.
Payment and Delivery System Reform
After several years of struggling and meeting with numerous doctors, Laura was finally diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. The prescriptions needed for her condition are not covered by her insurance, despite appeals by her doctors. Laura is faced with the difficult choice of paying for food, or paying for medication.
Rx Drug Pricing
In 2012, Deidre was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and her condition requires insulin. Due to an insulin shortage and rapidly rising costs, Deidre gets half of her insulin from a pharmaceutical company based in Canada. How can patients be expected to acquire life-saving medication at home if costs keep rising?
Rx Drug Pricing
As a thyroid cancer survivor, Gail was prescribed medication by her endocrinologist. She also suffers from asthma and a bronchial condition. The costs of her medications in the United States would absorb her pension, so she sought an alternative by getting medication delivered from Canada.
Rx Drug Pricing
Savannah struggled to find the right medication(s) for her chronic illnesses at 16 years old. Through multiple trials, Savannah was able to find medication that was right for her; but it came with a a massive price tag, and led to disputes with her insurance company. Savannah hopes that sharing her story will help others feel empowered to demand real change.
Rx Drug Pricing
Diagnosed with Type I diabetes at a young age, Sa'Ra and her sister shared a condition, but not equal access to insulin. Sa'Ra deductible for her insurance restricted her insulin access, and when her sister tried to help by sharing her own insulin supply, she ended up in the hospital.
Rx Drug Pricing
Due to the insulin shortage and outrageous cost of medication, Antroinette lost her oldest daughter, who was a Type 1 diabetic. Now armed with the knowledge of the dire importance of insulin, Antroinette is devoted to protecting and caring for her younger daughter, who is also diabetic.
Maternal and Child Health
Tamara's 18 month old grandson fell ill with a slight cough and signs mirroring COVID-19, but was not tested by his pediatrician. After his oxygen levels dropped, he was taken to the ER but was still not tested for COVID-19 due to not meeting testing criteria.
Surprise Medical Bills
Sue and John own a small business, but with Sue's rhumetoid arthritis they struggled to pay for high health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs. When receiving care they were not informed of pricing, and expected to blindly pay thousands of dollars for treatment. John and Sue had to sacrifice milestone celebrations, like their 20th anniversary trip to pay for their outrageous medical bills.
Private Insurance Coverage
Elizabeth has been living with Hodgkin's lymphoma since 2012. She was on Marketplace insurance, but the out-of-pocket and monthly costs were rapidly increasing. Elizabeth switched to her husband's employer-sponsored insurance and was able to not miss many treatment days. One of Elizabeth's major concerns is the rising cost of care for pre-existing and lifelong conditions.