President Trump is attacking people with disabilities again! Outrageous!
[ [link removed] ][IMG]SIGN OUR PETITION speaking out against President Trump's cruel
federal rule on disability insurance!
[ [link removed] ]take action
[ [link removed] ]Take Action

Dear Friend,

I’m always taken aback by the cruelty of President Trump’s proposals and
this time is no different. He is proposing changes to disability insurance
(SSDI and SSI) that would impact an estimated 2.6 million people with
disabilities, many of whom are children! [1]

Families like Kara’s:

“My son is on the autism spectrum, he has other health issues that limit
what he is able to eat, and he has horrible anxiety. He’s never been able
to attend a regular school—we had to pull him out at the age of 7 because
he would get so anxious and have hallucinations. On top of that, I have
serious health issues. I have had 7 back surgeries and I’m on 19 different
prescriptions. I’m a fall risk. I’m in bed a lot. I have blurry vision,
narcolepsy and Behcet’s Disease (an autoimmune disease). I worked as a
therapist but eventually had to close my practice. My husband works from
home so he can take care of us but because of that he can’t advance in his
career. I started applying for disability and was denied twice. Then I got
a lawyer and it took forever for me to get a hearing and eventually get
approved for disability insurance. SSDI got us to the point that we
weren’t terrified all the time. We can breathe. If we lose it I don’t know
what we will do. I’m terrified by President Trump’s proposal quite
honestly.”-Kara from North Carolina

[ [link removed] ]Every child, no matter whether they have serious health conditions or
disabilities, should be able to pursue their dreams.

***SPEAK OUT NOW to protect our children by signing our letter saying
“NO!” to Trump’s most recent attack on people with disabilities.

Here’s what’s going on: In November, the Trump Administration proposed a
federal rule that would require millions of people with serious health
conditions and disabilities, including parents and caretakers of children
with disabilities, to undergo more frequent reviews (called continuing
disability reviews or CDRs) of their medical conditions in order to
receive their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). [2] It is
estimated that this change could impact 2.6 million people with
disabilities. $2.6 billion over the next decade will be cut from the two
core programs that comprise the disability safety net: Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) leading
to hundreds of thousands of people could lose their disability insurance.
[3]

Applying for SSDI and SSI and going through the review process is already
hard enough as it is. Only about four in ten applications are approved and
it takes as long as two years, after multiple layers of appeals, to get
approved for benefits. [4] Many people need to turn to expensive lawyers
just to get the paperwork together and approved by the Social Security
Administration. And a shocking 10,000 people die each year just waiting to
get accepted into disability insurance. [ [link removed] ]

[5]Sign our petition now! Say “No!” to the Trump administration’s changes
to disability insurance.

Adding more frequent reviews won’t help people with disabilities, it won’t
magically help them get or keep a job. And it certainly won’t help
children dealing with illnesses and disabilities like Downs Syndrome,
cancer, Cerebral palsy, bipolar disorder, autism, or Cystic Fibrosis be
properly cared for by their parents if they are forced off of disability
insurance and must search for work in an uncertain job market. The
proposed changes will only create an increased administrative and
financial burden on families who will need to collect more paperwork,
attend more medical appointments in order to prove they qualify for
disability insurance, and take on additional unforeseen additional costs.
Low-income families will especially be harmed by these proposed changes.
People should not lose their benefits—and therefore an important financial
lifeline—because of bureaucracy!

[ [link removed] ]Join us and speak up now for millions of people, including children,
with disabilities!

***SIGN our letter saying “NO!” to the Trump Administration’s changes to
disability insurance!

President Trump has used the federal rule process time and time again to
cut programs that lift families in order to pay for tax breaks for
billionaires and big corporations...all without the approval of the U.S.
Congress. First he went after immigrant families, then food stamp
recipients, and now the disability community.

We have until January 31^st to collect as many signatures as possible to
speak out against this immoral and cruel attempt to cut hundreds of
thousands of people, including children, off of disability insurance.
[ [link removed] ]After you sign our letter, forward this email to your friends and
family, post about this on [ [link removed] ]Facebook —including in any parent Facebook
groups you are in, and help us speak out! We’ll be delivering our letter
to the Social Security Administration next week. We need as many
signatures as possible speaking out against this awful rule!

When we have each others’ backs—by ensuring that those of us who are
struggling with health conditions and disabilities have the support we
need—we make this a nation we’re proud to call home. Thank you for
continuing to speak up for ALL of our families!

-Elyssa, Donna, Nate, Kristin, Felicia and the entire
MomsRising.org/MamásConPoder team

P.S. Thank you to Rebecca Cokley at CAP and our friends at Little
Lobbyists (who connected us with Kara) for their guidance on this
important issue.

P.P.S To learn more about this issue please check out this [ [link removed] ]fact sheet.

 

[1] [ [link removed] ]Jonathan M. Stein. “Another Disability Disaster in the Making.”
New York Times, January 16, 2020.

[2] [ [link removed] ]"Rules Regarding the Frequency and Notice of Continuing Disability
Reviews; Extension of Comment Period."

[3] [ [link removed] ]Matthew Cortland. “The Trump Administration Has a New Stealth
Approach to Kicking People Off Disability.” Talk Poverty, December 19,
2019.

[4] [ [link removed] ]Terrence McCoy. “Did you know in rural America, disability benefit
rates are twice as high as in urban areas?” Washington Post, July 22,
2017.

[5] [ [link removed] ]Mark Johnson. “Turned down for federal disability payments,
thousands die waiting for appeals to be heard.” USA Today, December 27,
2018.

 

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