Beyond her heartbreaking memories and mourning of a life that will end far too soon, Tatiana Schlossberg’s recent essay in the New Yorker speaks to an experience shared by many Kentuckians: the need to access affordable, high-quality health care when it matters the most. Her story is deeply personal, but also speaks to a particularly problematic moment in medicine today: the vulnerability of coverage and severe funding cuts that threaten clinical trials today and the life-saving discoveries of tomorrow.
Schlossberg, the granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, shares her ordeal after giving birth in 2024, when routine bloodwork revealed an extremely high white blood cell count. This unexpected result led to a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia, followed by months of hospitalizations, aggressive treatments, major procedures – including multiple bone-marrow transplants, and participation in clinical trials.
Her writing makes clear that, even with medical connections (her husband is a urologist), world-class providers, and financial security, she worried about losing her coverage, being able to obtain necessary medications and vaccines, and about future revolutionary medical discoveries that would never occur due to ideology and loss of funding for medical research.
At The Asclepius Initiative, we hear how Kentuckians struggle to find “in-network” providers who can deliver the care they need in their communities, wait months for appointments and hours in waiting rooms, are distrustful of the system, and perceive bias in their care.
Schlossberg’s essay underscores a truth at the center of TAI’s mission: everyone deserves the chance to live fully and stay well, and that is only possible when health care is accessible and coverage reliable. It should never be a luxury; health care should always be available, especially in life’s most critical moments.
TAI advocates for a future where physical and emotional well-being are not dependent on luck, where economic security is not threatened by illness, where we can all have the quality of care and support that Schlossberg has received, a system where coverage is stable, affordable, and guaranteed from birth until death.