Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

On March 27, the Louisville Metro Police Department in Louisville, Kentucky, responded to a 911 call requesting help for someone experiencing a mental health emergency. When police arrived, Katelyn Hall had locked herself in the bathroom with the intention of harming herself.

At last week’s Bishop’s Table — a weekly community forum — I listened to Katelyn’s mother, Rebecca, recount what happened that night. Rebecca is grieving now because what began as a call for help ended with Katelyn losing her life. LMPD shot and killed Katelyn when she came out of the bathroom holding a large sharp object — a shard of porcelain.

In Breonna Taylor’s Louisville, it’s hard to have faith in the police department. The community’s skepticism is valid. But there’s a complicating factor that also caught my attention in Katelyn’s story. Katelyn’s mental health emergency was rooted in the fact that she could no longer afford her medication. Her health insurance had lapsed. As an accomplished woman with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in psychology, Katelyn understood the stakes.

Five years ago, Katelyn was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder as well as post traumatic stress disorder. She worked with a therapist and took her medication. Prior authorization requirements already made access to care difficult for her, then when she changed jobs in February, insurance lapsed and she could not afford the $2,000 price tag on her prescriptions. Her health spiraled, leading her to her death at the hands of Louisville police.

Police officers should not have to navigate mental health crises they are inadequately trained for. However, because of our U.S. health care system, scenarios like Katelyn’s will only become more frequent.

I know what it’s like to fight for access to medication even while insured. Prior authorization requirements hijack patient care from doctors. Now add that One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, and according to the American Medical Association, more than 10 million people could lose health insurance coverage by 2034. This collective hardship is about to strain every corner of our communities.

Katelyn should have never been in the position where she even had to consider forgoing her life-saving medication due to financial status. If this sounds hyperbolic, then let me remind you she is dead, and just maybe if her health care was affordable, that mental health crisis would have never happened and she’d still be here.

When I was first diagnosed with autoimmune arthritis, I spent six months bedridden because I could not walk unassisted or without crippling pain. While I jumped through the hoops my health insurance required of me in order to gain access to the expensive medication my rheumatologist recommended, I lost my job and my quality of life. I am hyperaware that without health insurance I would not be able to afford the biologic injections that keep me healthy. My health would deteriorate quickly and I’d end up back in bed.

Health care should not be treated as a privilege. It should be considered a foundational right. The United States is the wealthiest country in the world and we somehow cannot figure out universal health care the way that 124 other countries already have. The downstream effects of this disparity touch literally everything.

Make no mistake: A person in crisis should not have to worry that making a 911 call could be the choice that kills them or someone they love.

“My baby deserved help,” Rebecca said. “She did not deserve bullets.”

Rebecca is right: Her daughter deserved help. Not just from the police, but from our health care system. Katelyn’s death serves as a warning about what happens when medical care functions as a privilege for those with financial means. When people lose access to medication and therapies, the consequences do not stay confined to the doctor’s office.

If we truly want fewer mental health tragedies, then we must demand more than police reform. We cannot keep pretending these are separate conversations. Every lawmaker who votes to strip health care coverage, every insurer that places cost above care, and every system that makes life-saving treatment inaccessible shares responsibility for the lives lost as a result.

Do you know anyone who’s doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Also, stay in the loop by signing up for her weekly newsletter at WriterBonnie.com. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. Copyright 2026 Creators.com.