9-year-old Rockland cancer survivor joins call to protect Medicaid

As the Senate continues it’s deliberations on the “Big Beautiful” federal funding bill which in it’s current form would cut funding to Mediciaid by $793 billion over the next 10 years, some Rockland residents are speaking in defense of the program.

Jelien Ramos and her mother Amneris contacted the Rockland County Times this week to describe how Medicaid saved their family from bankruptcy and facilitated life saving care when for Jelien when she was diagnosed with Lekuima at the age of 3. 

“There is no way we would have been able to pay for her medication” Amneris told the RCT, “having Medicaid was a burden of our shoulders.” Amneris said that the price tag for Jelien’s treatment was in the $300,000 range,  well beyond the means of the working class family. The cost of the treatment was compounded by a lack of income as Amneris had to quit her job as a photographer in order to care for her daughter during her lengthy treatment and recovery process. Now 9 years old, Jelien has almost fully recovered and has become an advocate for researchers seeking to end childhood cancer. As Amneris explained, the vast majority of funds for Cancer research are directed toward treating older patients; a major part of Jelien’s recovery process was managing the dosage and side effects of medications tailored to adult bodies.

Jelien’s story is not uncommon  In the years following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, increases to Medicaid funding has resulted in millions more Americans receiving  vital health coverage. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that the number of US adults without insurance in 2024 had fallen to 27.2 million, down from 31.6 million in 2020. Unfortunately cuts proposed by the current version of the GOP bill would reverse those gains within a decade. As reported by Politico, one analysis of the House bill published last week in the Annals of Internal Medicine by a trio of Harvard-affiliated researchers, forecasts that those losses of Medicaid coverage would lead to fewer Americans reporting good health, fewer patients getting preventive health screenings, and, at the end of the day, between 8,200 and 24,600 additional annual deaths.

Though Republicans have argued that cuts to Medicaid are only intended to prevent undocumented immigrants and unemployed able bodied citizens from receiving benefits, stories like Jelien’s highlight a flaw in their approach. Seeking treatment or supporting  treatment for a loved  one can come with all of the stress and time consumption of full time employment, and work requirements can deny health coverage to sick people.

As reported by the American Cancer Society (ACS),  Medicaid has been a life saver for Cancer Patients in New York and fear of cuts to the program have launched dire warnings from the organization. 

As detailed in a statement shared with the RCT:

“Cancer is the second-highest cause of death in America, and over 123,400 people will be diagnosed  with cancer in New York this year.  Between 2017 and 2021, there were an estimated 21,438 new  cases of cancer in New York’s 17th district alone. 

“There are 253,000 Medicaid enrollees in New York’s 17th District and among them, it is estimated that over 8,300 have a history of cancer and likely need ongoing  monitoring, treatment and screening. This number will continue to grow with over 1,000 new cancer diagnoses anticipated in 2025.”

If the current Republican bill passes as written, an estimated 10.3 million people will lose their Medicaid coverage. Though advocates for the cuts maintain that a work requirement for able bodied Medicaid recipients would not strip vulnerable people of coverage and could in fact reduce unemployment, lived experience says otherwise. According to reporting from the Guardian, the two states to have already tried work requirements for Medicaid, Georgia and, briefly, Arkansas, reported a significant increase in individuals without health insurance and medical debt, and no boost in employment, one of the Trump administration’s key arguments for imposing the requirements.

The Ramos family and many like them have had their lives radically and positively impacted by the expansion of Medicaid. The Senate would do well to remember that as they approach a self imposed July 4 deadline to  adopt a budget that would drastically scale back the program.