Our New Hampshire member Nicole Sheaff and our Maryland member Carolina Reyes shared testimonies at a Steering and Policy Hearing about the rising costs families across America are facing.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by MomsRising.org (@momsrising)

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Nicole is an occupational therapist and mom of four. She shared that, in today’s economy, trying to make it with just one income feels impossible, and how Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are lifelines for her family. But although the ACA plan her family has generally cost about $75-125/month, she received a letter in the mail stating it would quintuple to $550/month starting in January. Here is her full story:

Good morning! My name is Nicole Sheaff, and I’m a proud member of MomsRising. I am a resident of Exeter, New Hampshire. I am also an occupational therapist and mom of four amazing kids, ages 24, 21, 17 and 12. They all are diagnosed with some level of disability.

I appreciate the chance to share how our nation’s affordability crisis is impacting families like mine. The rising cost of housing, groceries, utilities and other essentials has forced my family to stretch every dollar to try to make it through each month. Looming cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act threaten to send us off a financial cliff.

Raising four kids with disabilities has never been easy, especially in a country that has failed to adequately invest in care. I’m an occupational therapist by profession, but for many years, I haven’t been able to take a paid job because I’m caring for my kids. Between coordinating their care teams, getting them to their appointments, and supporting them in meeting their day-to-day challenges, managing my children’s care is a full-time job – it just happens to be unpaid.

In today’s economy, trying to make it with just one income feels impossible. My husband is self-employed as an architectural engineer. In recent years, as the cost of everything from heat to fresh produce has soared, he’s taken on more and more projects so we can try to keep up. These days, it feels like he works 24/7 – and it’s still not enough, especially as my family stares down the health care crisis our country is facing.

Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are lifelines for our family. My kids qualify for Medicaid because of their disabilities. Let me make this point really clear: Medicaid is the only option for their health coverage. No private insurer will cover the long-term care they need for their chronic conditions.

So when the latest budget bill slashed nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, I felt like 23 years of work was null and void. We’ve already struggled with long waitlists, limited providers, and a shortage of in-home providers because Medicaid reimbursement rates are so low. I’m terrified these cuts will make those challenges much worse.

When I left my job during COVID, my husband and I qualified for Medicaid due to pandemic-related expansions. When those ended, we were able to sign up for an ACA health insurance plan that was affordable thanks to the enhanced premium tax credits. Our ACA plan has generally cost us about $75-125/month.  When I first read about the tax credits expiring, I estimated that might triple. Then I got a letter in the mail informing us that actually, it would quintuple to $550/month starting in January.

I have absolutely no idea how we’ll pay that. It already feels like we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. We’re looking at applying for assistance with utilities so we can pay for health insurance. I’m terrified we won’t be able to keep up with our mortgage. At the same time, going without health insurance is not an option. My husband has a chronic condition that he needs medication to manage, and he wouldn’t be able to afford it without health coverage. He’s lost family members to the same condition and we simply can’t take that risk.

We are counting on lawmakers to recognize the challenges working families are facing and treat this like the emergency it is. I worry the cuts to Medicaid and ACA premium tax credits will increase costs by forcing people to rely on the ER for health care.

I worry this crisis will force people with health challenges out of the workforce if they can’t get the care they need.

This affects all of us in one way or another, and I am extremely disappointed that Congress has not solved our health care crisis. January 1 is coming up fast, and we need action now.

I appreciate everything House Democrats are doing to fight to lower the cost of health care, groceries, housing, utilities, and other essentials. Thank you.

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Carolina is the owner and director of Arco Iris Bilingual Children’s Center, a child care program in Laurel, Maryland and a mom of two. She shared about how for some students in her program, the meal they get in child care or Head Start might be the only meal they get that day and that these families are terrified about losing their SNAP benefits or having them delayed. Here is her full story:

Good morning. My name is Carolina Reyes, and I’m a proud member of MomsRising. I’m a mom of two amazing daughters, one of whom is in high school and the other in college. I expect to earn a master’s degree from Towson University in 2026. I’m owner and director of Arco Iris Bilingual Children’s Center, a child care program in Laurel, Maryland. We are Prince George’s County’s first bilingual preschool and a Head Start partner. We serve 35 children ages two to five. I’m proud to serve on Maryland Governor Moore’s State Early Childhood Advisory Council.

Thank you for the opportunity to share how the affordability crisis is harming the families in my community. These are incredibly tough times for young families. So many parents of children in my program work extremely hard, many at more than one job, and they still live paycheck to paycheck, relying on churches and food banks to feed and clothe their kids. These are moms and dads who are scared of what the total cost of their groceries will be, and afraid they will have to put the milk or cheese back on the shelves because they don’t have the money to pay for them. They are moms and dads who walk long distances to and from their jobs because they can’t afford bus or metro fares.

The increasing cost of food, rent, clothing, and other essentials makes life even more difficult. For some students in my program, the meal they get in child care or Head Start might be the only meal they get that day. These families are terrified about losing their SNAP benefits or having them delayed. They are panicked about what the cuts to Medicaid will mean for their health care. Many already can’t afford the medications and care they need. They are worried about heating their homes this winter, and what closing the U.S. Department of Education will mean for their children. And for immigrant families, even with documentation, the ICE raids and racial profiling create even more trauma. Even being here today, I questioned myself if I would be targeted by ICE due to my accent and speaking Spanish. It is unbelievable that I have to fear this, even for a second. If I feel this, imagine the immigrant families who are much more vulnerable.

These hardworking parents depend on our child care program, but Congress has failed to significantly invest in child care and to stabilize the industry. So we function on the margins, without the reserves we would need to keep classrooms open if our Head Start funding disappeared.

Losing access to child care would put families in crisis. Without child care/early learning programs, parents can't go to work, and children won’t be ready for kindergarten. I know with certainty the high-quality early care and education starting at birth is essential for our children.

I know programs like mine only serve a fraction of the families who need us. With the cost of child care so high and the shortage of programs so severe, so many parents have been pushed out of the workforce and far too many children are missing out on critical early learning opportunities. We need our elected leaders to address this crisis, but instead, this Administration is sending us in the wrong direction.

I’m passionate about what I do because I’ve seen the difference quality early education can make in a child’s life. At Arco Iris Bilingual Children’s Center, we take pride in fostering a lifelong love of learning in our students and teaching them the skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. There’s no better feeling than watching young learners gleefully gather for storytime, finally master their ABCs, gain the confidence they need to try new things, and learn to solve conflicts with their friends.

When families are under stress, as so many are now, they need us more than ever. Children feel the stress, and they need the support, the community, the social/emotional learning, we know, how to provide.

I can assure you: The affordability crisis is not a hoax (jox). It’s very real, and it’s ever-present in the lives of this nation’s young families. It causes chaos (kei-as) and hardship. So I am incredibly(iiii) grateful for leaders like all of you here today, who see us, who recognize the challenges we face, and who are working so hard to make our lives better. Thank you.