Missouri and Kansas families rely on Medicaid. Defend it - now | Opinion

Before founding the nonprofit Perigee Fund, I spent decades as a family therapist, working with parents and children in some of their most vulnerable moments. I’ve listened to mothers struggling with postpartum depression who feared they were failing their babies. I’ve sat on the floor with toddlers who couldn’t yet speak but whose worrying behavior told the story of trauma they didn’t have words for. And I’ve witnessed the power of healing when a parent begins to feel safe and supported, and that security ripples out to their child.

This is why I care so deeply about Medicaid.

Medicaid is more than a safety net. It’s the backbone of care for millions of families during pregnancy, postpartum and the earliest years of a child’s life. In Kansas and Missouri, thousands of families rely on it to access maternal mental health support, early relational care and developmental checkups for their children. It is the largest payer of maternal mental health services and infant and early childhood mental health supports in the United States. For many families, it is the only pathway to care.

Recent projections show that the future of this lifeline is at risk. A new analysis of the impacts of Medicaid cuts on Kansans commissioned by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation warns that if Congress enacts proposed structural changes to Medicaid, such as a per capita cap, Kansas’ Medicaid program could lose up to $573 million in the first year alone and more than $5.19 billion over the next decade. Changes to provider taxes, state directed payments, and work requirements could cost the state more.

These cuts would result in widespread coverage losses, growing personal medical debt, and an increased risk of hospital closures across the state. Depending on the plan adopted, an analysis by Missouri Foundation for Health highlighted that Missouri could see as much as a quarter of its federal Medicaid funding cut, more than $3.9 billion per year, and as many as 350,000 people could lose health coverage.

Medicaid is the largest source of federal funds in Kansas and Missouri. Cuts to the program would have severe ripple effects across the states’ economies and health systems, especially for young families. The consequences would be felt in every corner of the state, from rural hospitals to urban community clinics. As David Jordan of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund noted, these cuts would lead to fewer services, higher local taxes, and greater costs for all of us.

The risks are especially high for mothers and babies. We know that 1 in 5 women experiences a mental health disorder during pregnancy or postpartum. Left untreated, these conditions increase the risk of premature birth, low birth weight, insecure attachment and developmental delays in children. Suicide and overdose remain leading causes of death for women in the first year after giving birth. At the same time, millions of children under five are exposed to trauma. Investing in care early, when it matters most, is not only compassionate. It is preventative and cost-effective.

We also know that babies’ mental health is not separate from their parents’. It lives within the relationship. When we support a caregiver’s well-being, we protect a child’s developmental future. And when we fail to support that bond, the consequences ripple outward. Untreated early trauma shapes how children learn, trust, regulate emotion and eventually relate to the world around them.

At Perigee Fund, we are committed to advancing maternal and infant mental health, particularly in communities that have been historically underserved. We are deeply concerned that federal Medicaid cuts, currently under debate in Washington, would undermine care at the time it’s most needed.

We urge our elected leaders from Kansas and Missouri to recognize what families stand to lose if these cuts go through. The impact of early mental health investment is clear. The cost of inaction will be paid by families and communities alike.

If we are serious about addressing the mental health crisis, about improving community well-being, about preventing suffering before it begins, then we must protect the programs that allow families to heal and grow together. That begins with defending Medicaid.

Lawmakers in Washington, the time to act is now. Protect Medicaid. Defend it. Mothers, babies and families across Kansas, Missouri and the rest of the country are counting on you.