KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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In an update from Children's Mercy on Tuesday, the hospital says it will be an in-network provider for United Healthcare's Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace with plans beginning Jan. 1.
In October, the hospital told families that changes to ACA Marketplace plans could affect their insurance coverage for care in a hospital at the start of 2027.
The Jackson family was among those set to be impacted by Medica's departure from the Kansas City metro's ACA Marketplace coverage in 2027.
READ MORE | Parents of Children’s Mercy cancer patient search for solutions amid ACA insurance changes
Because Kasey and Tim Jackson are retired entrepreneurs, the couple rely on ACA health insurance for their family of five.
They shop the Marketplace based on what plan covers specialty care at Children's Mercy because their 13-year-old son, Elijah, is battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for a second time.
Kasey Jackson said her insurance broker notified her about the loss of her family's insurance plan, so she began posting videos online about it before Children's Mercy made the announcement on Oct. 20.
“I don’t know how long they would’ve waited had my video not gone viral, and it would’ve been time ticking away on open enrollment," Jackson said,
The videos gained hundreds of thousands of views. She said because of those videos, Children's Mercy reached out to her.
“It felt like the only option I could do to actually make a change," she said. "I think it seemed to have worked.”
So when Jackson first learned about Children's Mercy's agreement with United Healthcare on Tuesday, she felt like she played a part.
“I was baffled, I was relieved, I was crying, I was running across the house like, ‘We did it, we did it,'" Kasey Jackson said.
Elijah Jackson was first diagnosed when he was 8 and relapsed in July 2025. He has about a year left of treatment.
Jackson is motivated to make sure this isn't a problem again this time next year.
“How can we make sure lawmakers understand this is something that can’t happen? How can we protect families from this in the future? That becomes that fight now," she said.
The Jacksons' story gained national attention, landing the front page of USA Today's Tuesday paper.
“Hopefully the advocacy that I’ve done and our family’s story has blown open this gap that now people see exists in the Marketplace," Jackson said.
KSHB 41 News reached out to Children's Mercy for an interview. A spokesperson for the hospital said they're not doing interviews at this time.
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