KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
—
A Johnson County, Kansas, mother of four children with brain injuries has concerns about proposed Medicaid cuts in President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
Ryan Jolly said the cuts could impact her family's care and livelihood.
House Republicans passed the spending bill, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would cut Medicaid by $793 billion over 10 years. The bill is now in the Senate's hands.
Jolly, who lives in Lenexa, is both a parent of children who depend on Medicaid services and a psychiatric nurse practitioner whose business relies on the program. She's also an ambassador with Little Lobbyists.
"I will have to close my business and leave the workforce in order to be able to provide the care that my children require to do crazy things like live," Jolly said.
Jolly's family is the product of adoption and foster care. She said she's taken in around 50 children, with four now part of her "forever family."
U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) has expressed support for changes to the program, saying, "I do think there's opportunities for reform with waste, fraud and abuse."
However, not all Republicans support the cuts. Missouri Sen.Josh Hawley published an op-ed in the New York Times last month warning against Medicaid cuts, though he has since clarified he does support work requirements.
Jolly acknowledges that improvements can be made to the system.
"In any organization of any size, there's some fraud, there's some waste and there's probably some abuse," Jolly said.
But her main concern is what happens after cuts are made.
"You want to take things away from people that rely on them. What's your plan?" she questioned.
She hopes others will recognize that anyone could find themselves needing these services unexpectedly.
"Your 4-year-old that's playing soccer on the Pee Wee team and takes a hard hit might need this care," she said. "Eventually, your football player in high school that takes a hard tumble might end up quadriplegic, like my son, and need this level of care."
—
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.