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Kaitlyn Cunningham sits in her wheel chair in the hallway of Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Mar. 13, 2024. Cunningham and her mom Kathy Cunningham would walk down the hallway to look outside of the hospital windows at the birds.

A woman’s fight to escape the hospital shows Medicaid’s limits for disabled Texans

Staffing shortages and mismanaged care can delay when Texans on some Medicaid programs are discharged from hospitals. This can cost the state more and take a toll on patients and caregivers.


Kaitlyn Cunningham and her mother Kathy Cunningham sit in Kaitlyn’s hospital room at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Mar. 13, 2024. The two were living in this space for more than two months together.

A circle of confusion

Looking for care

Kathy Cunningham rests her hand on her daughter Kaitlyn Cunningham’s hospital bed in Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Austin, Texas on Mar. 13, 2024. Kathy has been trying to get all the necessary equipment and tools to be able to go home with her daughter.

Wasting state funds

Going home

Kaitlyn Cunningham spins her daughter Kathy Cunningham in the elevator lobby of the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Mar. 13, 2024. The two had spent the last two months in Kaitlyn’s hospital room and the hallway, making the most of the situation.

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Health care State government Health And Human Services Commission Medicaid