
Miss. Lawmaker Suggests Woman Buy Daughter's Diabetes Meds After She Writes for Help
A Mississippi state representative suggested that a woman buy her family's diabetes medication after she wrote to him to ask for help with increasing difficulties obtaining Medicaid assistance.
Richland resident Nicole Nichols wrote to the Mississippi House of Representatives Monday morning to voice her concern that children with Type 1 diabetes "aren't getting the necessary diabetes supplies and meds they need to stay healthy."
"We have recently begun having a lot of problems with Medicaid/CHIPS coverage of the essential diabetes supplies needed, not only to keep our kids healthy, but to literally keep them alive," Nichols wrote to Mississippi lawmakers. "No parents should have to fight for so long for their child's essential medical supplies and medical needs when it's explicitly stated as a covered benefit."
Later that day, Mississippi State Rep. Jeffrey Guice, R-Ocean Springs, replied, "I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?"
The mother of two, whose 8-year-old daughter, Bella, has Type 1 diabetes, told ABC News she has been filled with "silent fury" since she received Guice's response. Two other state representatives responded to her email as well, but Guice's was the only negative one, she said.
Nichols posted the exchange to a Facebook page Living in the World of Test Strips, which provides community support for parents of children with Type 1 diabetes. This morning, she attended a special session at the Mississippi State Capitol, where Guice was in attendance, and spoke to several reporters about the problem
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