'Appalling': GOP Medicaid plan forces some parents to choose custody or benefits

Medicaid reform has become a key element of President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget. On one hand, the GOP seeks to cut more than $700 billion from the program to help pay for Trump's proposed tax cuts. On the other hand, the GOP wants to add work requirements for Medicaid members to receive benefits, which would fulfill a long-standing conservative policy goal.

But the work requirements the GOP is chasing may force some parents to give up guardianship of their children to continue receiving benefits, KFF Health News reports.

Kimberly Gallagher, a mother in Missouri who cares for her 31-year-old disabled son Daniel, told the outlet that she recently had to go to court to sign over her parental rights to Daniel's grandparents. The move allowed her to receive Medicaid payments as an in-home caregiver for Daniel, something they otherwise could not afford.

“I think it’s appalling that it’s required, but it was necessary,” Gallagher told the outlet. “There was no way I could work outside of taking care of Daniel.”

The Gallaghers are just one of thousands of families who could lose their Medicaid benefits if Trump's budget is passed. Only 35% of Americans favor adding work requirements to Medicaid, especially if that means people like Gallagher lost their benefits, according to a poll by KFF.

“It would destroy our lives,” Gallagher told the outlet.