Katie Beckett, whose case led to coverage of children’s home care, dies in Iowa

Katie Beckett, whose struggles with childhood disease and federal bureaucracy brought landmark changes to the federal-state Medicaid program allowing children with disabilities to live at home, has died in Iowa, her mother said. Katie Beckett died at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Friday after suffering digestive problems, Julie Beckett said. She was 34. Her case led to development of the "Katie Beckett waiver," under which Medicaid pays for home care for disabled children. The U.S. law was passed in 1982, and Iowa's version took effect in 1984.