Advocate Spotlight: Brandy Unruh

Brandy and her family are the face of what is at stake in 2025 when the Montana State Legislature must decide whether to renew the Medicaid expansion program in Montana. Unlike most states Montana requires the program to be renewed every 5 years which leaves people who use it in limbo and feeling very nervous.

Brandy is a proud Montanan, a tribal member, a wife and mother. In addition to working, she is also her fathers and her disabled daughter’s caretaker, and they rely on Medicaid expansion for their healthcare coverage.

Brandy and her husband have both had medical setbacks, he is a cancer survivor, and she is living with heart disease that has worsened after bouts with covid and Guillain-Barre syndrome. When Brandy experienced Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease, she was left paralyzed and needed extensive care. It took two years of medical treatment but thankfully with time and treatment she is doing much better. However, she still relies on medication to help with nerve damage pain related to it, medication she can’t afford without Medicaid. When she looks back at the numerous medical procedures she and her family have needed and what it would have cost if they didn’t have Medicaid she doesn’t know where they would be today.

Brandy and her family are like many Montanans, currently 1 in 10 Montanans use Medicaid to access affordable healthcare. We hope that with her story and the story of many others in Montana we can convince the Legislature to renew this vital program.