I Took a Job to Support My Son Through Cancer Treatment; Then I Lost My Health Coverage
- 47 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Michelle is a 47 year-old mother of six, a part-time school employee, and the primary caregiver for her 17 year-old son, Bryce, who battles cancer and other serious conditions. Her life has been shaped by years of constant vigilance, advocacy, and financial strain as she navigates a complex and often inaccessible healthcare system.
Through all the challenges, Michelle works hard to center Bryce’s wellbeing and resilience. She calls him “my Superman,” sharing that even in his weakest moments during treatment, “no matter what pain he had, no matter how bad he felt, he always kept getting up… because he didn’t want to make me sad.”
Michelle’s identity as a mother, caregiver, and advocate is integral to her story. She is grateful to have found part-time at a school that “made a job for me to fit my hours for Bryce. It was a beautiful blessing.” However, due to Medicaid’s rigid eligibility rules, Michelle’s earnings from this job have pushed her out of meaningful health coverage for herself. She earns too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage, but too little to qualify for health insurance tax credits in the ACA Marketplace. She’s left with no affordable option for coverage, even as her son relies on her for daily care.
Michelle’s efforts to support her family financially have been punished by the structure of Medicaid eligibility. Before taking her position at the school, Michelle was eligible for Medicaid, “but when I got my job, they said I made $4 too much, and they kicked me off.”
She underscores how irrational the income thresholds are: “They say a caregiver in a family of four can only make 324 dollars a month. How does that make sense?” With such extreme income limits, she says, “you’re making it so that people stay poor.”
Michelle describes Florida’s current Medicaid system as one that constantly destabilizes families: “They said I made $4 too much, and they kicked me off. That’s how it works. A lot of parents have to reapply almost every other month, because if you go a few dollars over, then you’re kicked off for 30 days. . . and then you may requalify. And it just goes back and forth like that.”
In Michelle’s case, her son’s SSI income, which had not previously been counted, is now being counted against their eligibility, tightening the squeeze even further. The razor-thin margin for financial eligibility means that the family was left in a vulnerable position when faced with a crisis. Last year while Bryce was in treatment, a hurricane flooded their home and left their family displaced. The sudden financial and logistical burden was overwhelming for Michelle. “On top of not being able to work, I was paying so many bills for my son. We lost everything. I was paying two electric bills, I had a car payment, and I wasn’t working. It was just so far over my head, and I didn’t know how I was going to do it all.” In a time of crisis, the Medicaid system, which is supposed to act as a “safety net,” actually created more red tape and greater financial strain for Michelle and her family.
After Michelle was dropped from Medicaid, she was enrolled in “family planning” coverage, which she finds both inadequate and absurd. She pays $500 per month for coverage that doesn’t address any of her actual health needs. “They said it’s family planning. Do you know how insane that is for someone that is 47 years of age? My reproductive organs are all tied up. I’m done in that area.”
Michelle’s primary health concerns are not covered by her current plan. “I do need to be seen. My legs swell, and I don’t know why they’re swelling. I don’t know if there’s an underlining issue. My meds are going to be running out.”
When researching her coverage options, the systems give her contradictory signals: “I went on Marketplace and it said I qualified for Medicaid… Then Medicaid, though, said that I didn’t.” She is left feeling stuck choosing between financial stability and access to the care she needs to stay well.
Michelle describes the impact of these healthcare system failures as “devastating.” For her, Medicaid, which is supposed to help families, has instead become a set of obstacles that make her financial and health worries even worse.
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