A personal story of Medicaid’s impact

Life can change in the blink of an eye.
On Aug. 3, 1988, my 10-year-old son, Andy Jung, set off on his bike for the municipal pool in Manitowoc. He was involved in a car/bike crash there and suffered a traumatic brain injury. His four-month stay in the hospital was covered by Katie Beckett (Medicaid).
Andy was in a coma for seven months. He then began to respond to his environment and improved enough to go to school.
Andy lived at home for 14 years with the help of Holy Family Home Care (Medicaid) while I taught school full time. Then, he moved to a group home (Medicaid) in Green Bay. He has been attending a day program at Cerebral Palsy Inc. (Medicaid). Medicaid helps with his medications and other medical needs.
Without Medicaid, Andy would have had a very different story, and not a good one. And now, Medicaid is under attack by DOGE, which is planning to cut at least $880 billion. According to the Wisconsin Board for People with Disabilities, some of the agencies to receive cuts will be: Badger Care, Family Care, Foster Care, IRIS, Katie Beckett, PACE, Senior Care and SSI. Other agencies affected include nursing homes, group homes and agencies like Cerebral Palsy, Inc.
Andy’s story is a miracle made possible by great physicians who were able to work their magic with the help of Medicaid. Without Medicaid, his life story would have been much shorter.

Barb Rich
Manitowoc