“Scared out of my mind”: A family scrambles after their disabled 3-year-old loses Medicaid

Jodi Whites talks with her daughter Amelia outside their New Braunfels home on Thursday. “Sometimes people will tell me ‘Oh, she doesn’t look sick,’” Whites said. “I tell them, ‘We paid extra for that.’ No, really, this is what four years of Medicaid does for us. If we skip services for too long, the greater the chance she will relapse.” Last Friday, Amelia lost balance and fell into a door handle, giving herself a black eye. (Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune)

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Jodi Whites glanced through tears in the rearview mirror at her 3-year-old daughter, Amelia, who was slumped in her car seat, pale-faced, lethargic and unresponsive. The 37-year-old mom of five repeated the same words loudly to her daughter as she tried to keep her awake.