Julianne Ethel Beckett (née O'Connell; November 9, 1949 – May 13, 2022) was an American teacher and disability rights activist. She lobbied for changes to

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

that allowed hundreds of thousands of disabled children to be cared for by their families at home. Langer, Emily
"Julie Beckett, Champion of Children with Disabilities, Dies at 72"
''The Washington Post'' (May 26, 2022). Her efforts, and those of other activists, led to the legislation and establishment of the Katie Beckett Medicaid waiver, named for her daughter Mary Katherine Beckett (1978–2012), who used a

ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

after surviving

viral encephalitis Viral encephalitis is inflammation of the brain parenchyma, called encephalitis, by a virus. The different forms of viral encephalitis are called viral encephalitides. It is the most common type of encephalitis and often occurs with viral meningiti ...

in infancy. The waiver was included as a provision of the

Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (), also known as TEFRA, is a United States federal law that rescinded some of the effects of the Kemp-Roth Act passed the year before. Between summer 1981 and summer 1982, tax revenue fell by ...

Early life and education

Julianne O'Connell was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the eight children born to John Joseph O'Connell and Barbara Jane Ryan O'Connell. Her family was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

; her father was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran and a lumber salesman. She graduated from Regis High School in 1967, and from Clarke College in Dubuque in 1971; she earned a master's degree in history from the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Career

Julie Beckett was a part-time teacher and worked in a record store, before becoming her only child's full-time caregiver. She was also state director of Sick Kids Need Involved People (SKIP), and later co-founder and policy coordinator for Family Voices, a national lobbying organization. She testified before Congressional hearings several times. She remained active in Medicaid reform work after the Katie Beckett waiver was established; "my goal is that no child will ever have to go through what my child had to go through," she told a newspaper in 1995. She was honored as a child advocate in 2000, and as a local hero at the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival in 2005.

Personal life

Julie O'Connell and Mark Beckett married in 1978; they divorced in 1990. Their daughter Katie was born prematurely in 1978, and died in 2012. Beckett died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in May 2022, at the age of 72. "Thanks to Julie's tireless advocacy, millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of children with complex medical needs, have been able to receive the care and support they need in their homes rather than in institutional settings", said Daniel Tsai of the

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer M ...

, a federal agency.

References

External links

An interview with Julie Beckett
posted to YouTube by the Iowa Family Leadership Training Institute in 2022 * Julie Beckett (July 24, 2017)
"I Fought for My Daughter to Live at Home, And Congress Wants to Take That Away From People With Disabilities"
an essay posted to the ACLU website
Beckett's appearances on C-Span
(three videos from 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Julie 1949 births 2022 deaths Schoolteachers from Iowa American disability rights activists People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Clarke University alumni University of Dayton alumni 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American educators Activists from Iowa