Act Now: Protect Medicaid to Ensure that People with Disabilities Can Stay in Our Homes and Communities
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), an organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the rights of individuals with disabilities, is urging people with disabilities to share our personal stories to protect Medicaid.
Numerous Ohioans with disabilities, including myself, Ms. Wheelchair Ohio 2023, several members of the advocacy group Breaking Silences, and many others have passionately advocated over the past few years for additional funding to be incorporated into the state budget for an enhancement of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). As a result of advocacy efforts, the average wage of Direct Service Providers is currently $18 an hour per the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. Unfortunately, HCBS are now being threatened on a federal level.
The federal budget proposal is currently calling for dramatic cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid serves as a vital support system for individuals with disabilities, enabling us to live independently in our homes and communities. However, Congress is currently reviewing proposals that could cut funding, introduce work requirements, and restrict access to essential services, such as personal care, HCBS. medical equipment, and so much more. Without Medicaid, many people with disabilities will lose our fundamental right to live and participate in the communities of our choice and be forced into, and some cases back, into institutions.
People with disabilities need to come together now, more than ever, to protect Medicaid and safeguard our right to live and participate in the community we choose. NCIL has created a campaign with the goal of allowing us to do just that. The campaign allows people with disabilities to contact the President, Vice President, and U.S. Senators via phone or email to urge them to not make cuts or add work requirements to Medicaid.
While a sample email and suggested phone script stating the importance of Medicaid and the lifeline it extends to people with disabilities are provided to allow anyone to contribute to the campaign, NCIL is urging people with disabilities and our allies to share our stories and/or the stories of people we know to demonstrate the importance of Medicaid to legislators.
If Medicaid has had any kind of impact on your life or the life of someone you know, ACIL joins NCIL in urging you to contact legislators to ask them to protect it. If you need more information on this issue and/or guidance on what to say to legislators, check out the Guide to Telling Your Legislators : Protect Medicaid, which was developed by Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).
To contribute to NCIL’s campaign to protect Medicaid by sharing your story or the story of someone you know, visit NCIL’s Advocacy & Action Center.
