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This afternoon, Congress passed their reconciliation budget bill, enacting the largest cuts to Medicaid in US history. Disabled people were betrayed by politicians who claim to care about our lives while taking away the support we need to live. In addition to draconian Medicaid cuts, the bill cuts SNAP benefits, which many disabled people rely on in order to buy food. Because of how expensive this bill is, it will also force the government to cut $500 billion from Medicare. An estimated 16 million people will lose their health insurance over the next ten years and an estimated 51,000 people will die each year with their health care taken away. Congress has cut these lifesaving services to fund tax breaks for billionaires. Because of their actions, many disabled people will lose our supports, our health care, our jobs, our communities, and ultimately our lives. This bill is a display of cruelty and contempt for the disabled community. We join you in deep grief for what comes next. As always, there is more work to do. State-level advocacy will be crucial as we fight to prevent states from cutting home and community-based services (HCBS). If you live in the US, start contacting your Governor and state representatives to urge them to preserve HCBS — and don’t stop until they take action. You’re not in this fight alone: state organizations like local Arc chapters, Centers for Independent Living, and Developmental Disabilities Councils can help you advocate for HCBS in your state. Job loss penalties and other parts of this bill will require people on Medicaid to do a lot more paperwork to keep their benefits. People who don’t work consistent amounts every week or month will be at risk of losing Medicaid even if they are working. People who can’t keep up with the paperwork rules will lose Medicaid even if they still qualify under the new law. At the same time, federal grants and services that normally help people navigate this process are being cut. People in your state and local area will need help navigating the bureaucracy of state Medicaid so that they can keep their health care in the face of cuts. This is an important time to practice mutual aid, and to support local organizations that help with benefits navigation, like Arc chapters and Centers for Independent Living. On the federal level, we can push for policies that delay the implementation of the cuts in the bill. Many of these cuts don’t kick in for several years. The longer we can push back the cuts, the longer disabled people will keep our services, and the greater the chance that we can reverse the cuts before they devastate our communities. We heard many times that this bill would “protect Medicaid for those it was intended to serve.” That was a lie. If our representatives really wanted to protect Medicaid and help their disabled constituents, they would be pursuing very different policies. They would make it mandatory for states to provide HCBS, and adequately fund these services to meet our community’s needs. They would increase Medicaid’s asset and income limits and end the marriage penalty. They would raise the pay of direct support workers so that our supporters have the living wage they deserve. They would strengthen and broaden Medicaid expansion instead of weakening it. These are all policies that ASAN has been fighting for, and we will keep fighting. We will continue to work toward a society that meets the health care and support needs of all disabled people, where we can live the lives we choose in our communities. Sometimes we make progress towards these policies, and other times, we face setbacks. Win or lose, our goals stay the same, and so does our determination to reach them. Today, our community is reeling. Tomorrow, we pick up the pieces and keep going. Don’t give up — our work continues, and we need everyone in the fight.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network PO Box 66122
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