John,
Stroke survivors with aphasia are being cut off from Medicaid because they can’t speak, read, or respond fast enough to meet Trump’s work requirements, a setup that ignores everything we know about stroke recovery.
That is why we stepped in early and didn’t wait for federal leadership. Together, we have already sent more than 10,211 letters to state Medicaid directors calling for exemptions and extended recertification timelines for stroke survivors with aphasia.
But let’s be clear: One person could fix this nationwide with a single decision: Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump-appointed Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Trump’s CMS has left states scrambling. Some states are granting case-by-case exemptions, others refuse, and too many stroke survivors are being cut off entirely. Dr. Oz has the authority to issue a national exemption today. He can require states to protect stroke survivors, extend recertification windows, and stop wrongful terminations immediately.
He does not need Congress. He doesn’t need Trump’s permission. He already has the power.
Tell Dr. Oz: Exempt stroke survivors with aphasia from work requirements and extend recertification periods nationwide.
Medicaid work requirements are devastating for people with aphasia. They struggle with paperwork, reporting deadlines, and complex digital portals.
If they miss a form or fail to respond quickly, the system automatically cuts them off. This is discrimination against a neurological disability, plain and simple, and CMS has full authority to stop it.
Too many states are now facing backlogs, red tape, and processing delays as Trump’s work requirement machinery grinds down vulnerable people. Without national action, stroke survivors with aphasia will be protected in one state but abandoned in the next.
This is the opposite of how a national health program should function. Dr. Oz can bring clarity, compassion, and consistency through a simple federal directive.
A universal exemption would save lives.
Extended recertification would prevent terminations. National guidance would prevent states from interpreting aphasia as “noncompliance.” Trump’s CMS leadership claims they want efficiency. This is how to deliver it. Protecting stroke survivors is the simplest administrative fix Dr. Oz will ever be asked to make.
Tell Dr. Oz to act now and establish an exemption from Medicaid work requirements and extended recertification for stroke survivors with aphasia nationwide.
Together, we can push CMS to do what is right.
- DFA AF Team
