Erma Newell is no stranger to adversity. As a teenager, this Laurel resident and her family housed Freedom Riders and endured threats from the KKK as they registered their neighbors to vote. She and her husband of 35 years raised their four children while working full-time as a nurse's assistant and firefighter. And when her son lost his battle with substance abuse four years ago, the Newells began raising three grandchildren, now teenagers. "It wasn't a choice," says Mrs. Newell, "I couldn't have slept at night thinking they were living with strangers when they have us to love them."

Cut-offs catastrophic

But not even Mrs. Newell's indomitable spirit could prepare her for the letter she received last month from the state of Mississippi. "July 1, 2004," the notice informed her and 65,000 other disabled, elderly and poor Mississippians, "you will no longer be eligible for Medicaid." For the Newells, both disabled, she with severe osteoarthritis and he with a chronic heart condition, the news was catastrophic. Medicaid not only helped pay for doctor's appointments and hospital stays, including Mr. Newell's recent open heart surgery. It also covered the cost of the couple's 14 different prescription medications.

In human terms, the state's latest round of cost savings measures could amount to a death sentence for many Mississippi families, especially the 48,061 grandparents primarily responsible for raising their grandchildren.

In Mississippi and across the country, grandparents and other relatives are often the best answer to care for at-risk children whose parents struggle with substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, incarceration, and other serious problems. This situation is especially difficult for retired couples living on a fixed income, disabled grandparents, and the 30 percent of Mississippi grandparent caregivers currently living under the poverty line.

Life was already tough

For Mississippi grandparents and other relatives raising children, life is tough enough. Without court-ordered legal guardianship (or the money to pay the necessary legal fees), many caregivers lack the authority to enroll children in school, authorize medical care and vaccinations, or maintain their public housing subsidies. Public support to help make ends meet is also scarce, particularly for grandparents like the Newells, who were financially independent before they became responsible for clothing, feeding, and housing several children.

For example, relative caregivers are eligible for only $170 per month to support three children through the state's TANF program, but unrelated adults caring for three teenagers of similar ages are eligible to receive almost 10 times as much in foster care payments. And while grandparents and other relatives can apply to be become foster parents, many are afraid to place children under state supervision.

The elimination of Medicaid coverage has been the most bitter pill for many grandparent caregivers to swallow.

Without ensuring all Mississippians appropriate health coverage, these unconscionable cuts will not only hurt adults in need. Thousands of children will also pay the price.