Through Our Eyes: Medicaid Storytelling
The Voices Behind Medicaid
The Community Health Commission of Missouri partnered with FamiliesUSA, a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to elevating patient voices and advancing equitable access to health care, to launch a statewide storytelling campaign elevating the real voices behind Missouri’s health-care system.
The project captures firsthand experiences from residents across the state—patients, caregivers, Medicaid recipients, and community members—to ensure that those most affected by health policies lead the conversation about what needs to change.
Read the stories below to learn about the diverse coverage experiences across our state.
St. Louis Storytellers
A Young Voice for Health Care Justice
Dariya Walker
Dariya Walker is a high school student in Florissant, Missouri. Dariya and her family use Medicaid to access health care services, and she appreciates the peace of mind that having coverage gives her and her family. “It’s good to know that I don’t have to be worried about my health.” Even if an illness or injury can be treated at home, it helps ease Dariya’s anxiety to know that going to a doctor’s office or hospital is always an option. “If I did have to have surgery, Medicaid is going to help cover what needs to be covered because that’s what it’s there for,” she shared.
Cutting Through the Red Tape for Her Children
Christian Peoples
Christian Peoples lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two children, both of whom have been diagnosed with autism. All three of them rely on Medicaid to access health care coverage, which has been an immense help through tough times. “It’s amazing to know that you have the resources to get through some things that are hard in life.” Medicaid helps Christian’s children access services to keep them safe and healthy.
Kansas City Storytellers
A Heart Transplant Survivor’s Fight to Keep Medicaid
Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was born with a congenital heart defect. She worked throughout her life, often juggling multiple jobs, until she had a heart attack at 35. “I could no longer work. I lost my job. I lost health insurance. And I had to get on Medicaid. I was denied at first, but I appealed it and got it approved.” Approval allowed Andrea to join St. Luke’s heart transplant program. “That was actually a requirement to get on the transplant list. Thank God for Medicaid, or I wouldn’t have gotten listed or the care I needed.”
Challenging the Stigma Around Medicaid
Tina Roath
Tina Roath is a 54-year-old woman with five children living in Kansas City, Missouri. She depends on Medicaid to help cover the care she needs. Though not her first time using the program — she previously relied on it for secondary coverage during her pregnancies — she now depends on it to manage a recently developed disability. “I was working, very active, and one day at home, I don’t even remember. I just woke up. They think I had a mild stroke,” she said. “Your world can change within a blink of an eye.”
Southeast Missouri Storytellers
What Medicaid Means for Families in Rural Missouri
Hillary Harris
Hillary Harris lives in Sikeston, Missouri with her three daughters, who are all under the age of ten. Medicaid has been absolutely crucial in providing her and her family what they need to stay safe and healthy, both mentally and physically. “My connection to Medicaid goes deeper than just it being insurance,” she shared. Medicaid has covered the medication and treatment that Hillary needed for her mental health, especially after the birth of her children.
A Community Health Worker’s Fight to Protect Medicaid in Rural Missouri
Nan Macklin
Nan Macklin is a Community Health Worker in the Bootheel region of Missouri, serving families who rely on Medicaid and Medicare. She works with seniors and small children in one of the poorest counties in the state. Nan explained that between 80-90% of the patients she serves rely on some form of state assistance, “I work in the community with families, faith-based and all, to help them find those resources that will help them live a better and healthy life.”
Protecting Medicaid
Advocacy Efforts
For more information about our advocacy efforts to protect Medicaid access, visit our policy and advocacy page.