Leukemia patient Diana Smith of
Miami was to receive a bone-marrow transplant on April 13 paid for by her
Universal coverage under Medicaid. Her insurance agreed to pay for her
transplant but would not cover the cost of surgery to remove the bone marrow
from the donor. Inspired by the young mother’s story, Smith’s community banded
together to raise over $133,000 to fund the surgery.
Unfortunately, a monthly Social
Security disability check of $1,100 that was offered to her by the government
to care for her son bumped Smith into a higher tax bracket and made her
ineligible for the Universal coverage. Even though she only received one
payment and offered to cancel the disability check, the government denied her
request stating it was too late.
After her story broke on local
Florida news stations, public outrage forced state lawmakers to step in on
Smith’s behalf. As a result, Smith’s surgery will go on as planned. This is
what solidarity looks like!
