For 30-year-old Emmy Duddles of Ohio, managing chronic illness has meant more than coping with symptoms. It has meant spending years searching for answers while navigating insurance barriers that made getting the right care feel out of reach. Emmy lives with fibromyalgia and chronic migraines, and she has experienced a migraine every day since 2016. […]
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Tanisha Corporal, Georgia
At 49 years old, Tanisha Corporal is a licensed master social worker in Atlanta who has worked in the field for more than two decades. For years, it was her job to help other Georgians access benefit programs — expertise she never expected to need for herself. When she left her position at a faith-based […]
Lacey Donle, Maine
Lacey Donle lives in Lisbon, Maine and works in early childhood education as a preschool teacher. When she first shared her story in 2025, she had recently left a job with employer coverage for less stress and a better childcare situation for her children, and she had been enrolled in Marketplace coverage for a year. […]
Stacy Drake, Indiana
Stacy Drake is a mother of three from Shelburn, Indiana. Her oldest son, Bentley, was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at age three. He was nonverbal until he was five, and he still struggles with speech that few people besides his mother can understand. He is set to turn 14 this month. Bentley’s care had […]
Nature Jackson, Nebraska
Nature Jackson is 45 years old and the mother of six children. Her relationship with health care was shaped long before she ever had insurance to worry about. “I was stolen from my mother at nine,” she said, and she was never returned to her family. What followed was three decades moving through foster care, […]
Mellisa Craig, Nebraska
Mellisa Craig is a single mother in Lincoln, Nebraska, raising her son Nash on her own while using Medicaid to keep them both healthy. For the better part of a year, she had no idea whether new work reporting requirements would take that coverage away. Mellisa is about to turn 37, and Nash is about to turn […]
Maria Taylor, Iowa
47-year-old Maria Taylor lives in Davenport, Iowa, with her husband, Shawn, who is 49. “Health care isn’t just a political issue to me — it’s something my husband and I have to think about every single day,” she said. In December 2021, Maria became critically ill with Covid. She spent three weeks in the ICU, […]
Alisha Gillespie, Pennsylvania
Alisha Gillespie is a 36-year-old resident of Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District where she is the sole provider for her two sons currently living in her home. Medicaid has been part of her life for 37 years, she shared. “I remember being on it as a kid, transitioning to being a teen parent and receiving Medicaid […]
Annemarie Morse, Maine
Annemarie Morse, grew up in the China area of Maine and has moved around since, now living in Palermo, right next door. After four years in Lewiston, Annemarie is currently 28 and after parting ways with difficult roommates, they are living on their family’s property rather than in their own townhome. Annemarie has been on […]
Shanelle Woods, Missouri
Shanelle Woods lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and has polymyositis, a rare autoimmune disease, along with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and severe asthma. She spent most of her adult life working, including a position at Washington University where she carried employer-sponsored health insurance. Because of her income level, she also received Medicaid as secondary coverage. In 2021, […]