A Cancer Survivor Hoped To Work — Then She Lost Her Medicaid Disability Coverage

As state governments grapple with how to determine who’s sick enough to be excused from new Medicaid work requirements, some families are already struggling with what illnesses guarantee health coverage because of a disability.

By: Katheryn Houghton

Outlets: KFF Health News

Published: September 15, 2026

Words: 1,425

Last Updated: 3 days, 7 hours ago

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Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. But the cancer’s lasting damage to her organs and nerves can make basic tasks, like loading a dishwasher, hard.

Still, Montana’s health department decided last year that Hailstone is no longer eligible for low-cost disability health coverage through Medicaid. The department switched her coverage to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, another Medicaid program — three months before she aged out.

Before …

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