FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — A Frankfort mother says her family has paid more than $30,000 out of pocket over the past year after her son lost his Medicaid benefits — and she wants state leaders to think about families like hers as Medicaid cut discussions continue.
Rebecca Lowe's 8-year-old son, Finn, has autism.
"He got diagnosed at 22 months - and because of his diagnosis, he automatically qualified for Kentucky Medicaid," Lowe said.
Medicaid helped Finn access critical services, including speech therapy.
"Speech therapy is one of his number one services. As you heard a little bit - he can say cheese. He can say no. Really, he only has about 20 words, but that's 20 more words than he had last year," Lowe said.
Lowe says Finn also received applied behavioral analytics, which help with social and emotional development.
"He's learning to not elope, how to not hit if he's upset, said Lowe. "Just how to control any type of emotion. Like, he doesn't have meltdowns because you told him no or because we had to transition from one place to another."
When asked if those services are critical, Lowe's answer was simple.
"Critical. Yes," Lowe said.
But with changes being made to Medicaid, Finn lost his benefits. Lowe and her husband both work full-time jobs, and the family has insurance — but even with that coverage, they have paid a little more than $30,000 out of pocket in the past year since Finn lost his Medicaid benefits.
"If you can't find that money somewhere, your child cannot have those services," Lowe said.
Lowe says there is often a misconception that families in her situation are not working.
"They're like why don't you work? I work a full time job. So does my husband. That doesn't mean we have an extra $30,000 to help our son," Lowe said.
The services and equipment Finn needs are simply very expensive for a working family, according to Lowe. Because Finn elopes — meaning he runs away — the family experienced a frightening situation one night when he left home.
"We woke up to the police at our door at 5 a.m. on a Sunday. He had taken the deadbolt off the front door with his finger nails," Lowe said.
After that incident, Finn needed a very expensive safe sleep bed to prevent it from happening again — the kind of cost that adds up quickly.
As Medicaid cut discussions continue, Lowe says she wants others to keep working families like hers in mind.
"Just trying to survive, while we are a working class family," Lowe said.
Karolina Buczek is committed to covering the stories that matter to you. If you have an idea, please reach out to Karolina at karolina.buczek@wlex.tv.
