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Medicaid Failure Hits Home

Thursday, October 3, 2024


My family is currently experiencing a heartbreaking crisis that illustrates the urgent need for Medicaid expansion in Texas. My daughter, Rachel, who has Down Syndrome and Epilepsy, received a “raise” in her Social Security so that she makes more than $965 a month in Social Security. She was therefore kicked off Medicaid because she now “makes too much money.” Her medications cost approximately $20,000 per month. This “raise” also made her ineligible to attend her adult day care, have a respite caregiver, and receive adult diapers for her.

Thank God for the Affordable Care Act and that the Republicans in Washington have failed in their many attempts to repeal it.


As of two days ago, she was accepted with health insurance under the ACA. However, as of today, we are losing our access to her adult day care, respite care, and adult diapers because she no longer qualifies for Medicaid due to her “raise,” which is an amount that no human being, especially one as disabled as Rachel, could ever live on.


I am still fighting to get back these benefits my 100% disabled daughter deserves.

In my appeals and multiple calls over the past two weeks on this issue, I have been told over and over again by our local Social Security and Texas Health and Human Services representatives here in Waco, that Rachel and I are living this nightmare because Governor Greg Abbott and the Republicans in Austin continue to refuse to expand Medicaid.


Texas is now one of only ten states that continues to stubbornly refuse Medicaid. I am fighting today for Rachel, and this experience only incentivizes me more to take this issue on if I am elected to represent our community in the Texas House.


The refusal to expand Medicaid boils down to this:


We taxpayers pay billions of dollars in federal taxes each year. Texas is entitled to receive $8 billion of those tax dollars back each year if our representatives in Austin vote to expand Medicaid. Governor Greg Abbott and the Republicans in the Texas Legislature stubbornly refuse that money, causing our hard-earned tax dollars to be sent to states that have voted to expand Medicaid. This is shameful and is why my daughter and I are experiencing this nightmare today.


Thank you for standing with us in this critical fight.


Erin Shank

Candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, HD 56


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