In 2005, when Milly was a senior at Oklahoma University, she became pregnant with her son, Liam. She was uninsured at the time but qualified for Medicaid, and had a healthy and uneventful pregnancy and delivery.
But at her six-week checkup, Milly asked her doctor about a lump on her breast. “I was referred to a surgeon,” she said. “I got overwhelmed and I got scared. Scared that I might have cancer and scared of what it would all cost. But my surgeon said, ‘Don’t worry. You’ve got Medicaid.’”
Milly was eligible to stay on Medicaid through Oklahoma’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, and her health insurance covered everything she needed throughout her treatment. Since her treatment 15 years ago, she has gone to law school, has health insurance through her job as an attorney, and is the mother to two healthy children.
“I don’t like to think about what would’ve happened without Medicaid. It saved my life, and Liam got to grow up with his mom.”