Shan
Shan is a St. Louis resident and lifelong Missourian. They have lived for many years with severe ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. For the past few years, they have been on a stable and effective treatment plan, including regular visits with providers which allowed them consistent access to the prescriptions they need. […]
Deborah A.
I have been uninsured since the day that I turned 26 years old, so it’s been nearly 4 years now. Just a few weeks after I turned 25 years old, I got really sick with a rare neurological disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). In my case, it left me paralyzed from the waist down. I […]
Shannon McKinney
Shannon McKinney is a Joplin-based staff attorney at Legal Aid of Western Missouri, specializing in housing and consumer law. She’s been practicing law for almost two decades. In each chapter of her career, Shannon has prioritized helping people with limited means and resources. “Even before I went to law school, I worked for DFS, as […]
Sam McAninch
Sam is a 30-year-old intensive care float nurse who has worked at Cox Hospital in Springfield for the last 5 years. Since COVID-19 broke out in Missouri, she has worked in the COVID unit as well as homeschooling her son. As the cases have dramatically increased this fall, seeing COVID patients has become a revolving […]
Ryan K.
Ryan works as a handyman for a local property management company in Joplin. At the end of August 2020, he contracted COVID-19. Ryan started getting sick while the weather was still very hot, and since he’d been working outdoors, he attributed his symptoms of a headache and fatigue to possible dehydration or heat-sickness. When the […]
Larry Batt
Larry is a 57-year-old former carpenter from Lebanon, MO who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2013. At the time, he had insurance through his job, but was forced to quit upon his diagnosis, because he couldn’t be around dust, fumes, or smoke. He applied for disability. “It’s a big life change to be working […]
Nichelle Harris
Nichelle lives with her husband and three children in the Kansas City area, where she works for a heating and cooling service provider. Although she and her husband have health care coverage through her job, she cannot afford to add her three children to their plan, so their children have been covered through Medicaid for […]
Brittney
Since 2017, Brittany has relied on Medicaid to provide health care for her three children. She found out they were dropped from coverage when she attempted to enroll them in child care. Brittney was confused, as she knew she had submitted all the paperwork required. Her youngest child, Karis, has disabilities and requires an oxygen […]
Rai
When Rai became pregnant at age 19, she was on her mother’s insurance. Unfortunately, her mother did not have pregnancy coverage on her plan. Luckily, Rai had a connection with a nursing organization that helped Rai navigate the Medicaid system for herself and her child. Rai qualified for Medicaid and was impressed by the care […]
Van and Renda
Van is a 56-year-old resident of Sparta, Missouri. He and his wife Renda have a variety of illnesses that they try to manage despite their limited access to care. The couple applied for Medicaid a few years ago, but their application was denied because they owned a home. Van qualified for SSI disability seven years […]
