If there is implementation of radical cuts to Medicaid prescribed by Congress, it will be catastrophic for people with disabilities. Medicaid provides millions of people with access to medical care, nursing care and home and community-based services (HCBS) which people need to get out of bed, go to work, and live vibrantly in their communities rather than being warehoused in institutions. Medicare is no fringe program. It is a pillar of American society. More than half of all Americans say someone in their family has used the program, and only 17 percent support cutting its budget.
As Marc Morial of the National Urban League has stated, “Medicaid provides health care to almost half children in the United States. It allows elderly parents and grandparents and people with disabilities to remain in their homes and communities, easing the burden on their loved ones. It covers the costs of life-saving medications for chronic diseases. Ripping away this lifeline for millions of working families… will further deepen the already-severe health inequities for people of color and other marginalized communities. It is a shocking betrayal of our nation’s values…”
Moreover, a New York Times article describes how Medicaid should be considered to be a middle class benefit. It notes that millions of people who are financially comfortable now may be just one bad break away from needing Medicaid for themselves or a member of their immediate family.
Rachel Litchman is a cartoonist, writer, consultant and full-time wheelchair user. The HCBS component of Medicaid allows her to live independently in her home. In a searing article in Stat, she writes of her concern that the “shadow of the nursing home looms” for her if the cuts happen. She states that “even if Medicaid itself continues to exist, I fear a return of policies of the past that aimed to keep disabled people out of the public sphere, segregated in institutions, and further exposed to death.”
Programs like HCBS give people a range of choices and that is what we all want. It is the dearth of choice that leads people to wonder whether going on is worth it. It is unimaginable what it must be like to say goodbye to a trusted aide with whom you have a respectful and professional relationship and to ask a friend or family member with their own problems and concern to do the most intimate of tasks for you gratis. It is unimaginable to think of leaving your home where you feel comfortable for the alternative of a semi-private room in an understaffed place run by a for-profit organization and where you must eat dinner at 4:45 pm. Indeed one of the leading reasons why some people lose the desire to live is fear of confinement in a nursing home.
Whether this is intended or not, Medicaid cuts would fuel the “better dead than disabled” ethos. We simply cannot allow substantial cuts to occur. Please contact your elected representatives of both parties and ask them to do all they can to stop them.
For more information on what drastic cuts would mean to people with various types of disabilities, click here.
About the Author: Lisa Blumberg is a lawyer, writer, and disability rights activist.
