'The cancer lottery' meant this Kansas woman qualified for Medicaid, but not her mother

An early detection program provides breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment to uninsured people. Yet potentially hundreds of other Kansans diagnosed with other types of cancer remain without coverage.
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas — Both Stephanie Barr and her mother got cancer.

But different kinds. Because Barr had breast cancer, she qualified for Medicaid coverage — meaning both care and protection from medical bills that could bankrupt her.

“I kind of won the cancer lottery in a way, because I had the right kind of cancer that could qualify me to get this health insurance coverage that I desperately needed to get through this,” Barr said.