2 weeks ago, we joined a group of disability organizations on Capitol Hill, where Congress meets to make laws. Together, we spent 24 hours straight reading stories from people who need Medicaid to survive. There were children, parents, organizers, and allies. We reminded each other that we are not alone. We reminded each other why fighting to keep our community safe matters.
This week reminds us why. This week continues to have many threats to the disability community. Congress is voting on the new version of the U.S. budget. This budget would cut 600 billion dollars from Medicaid. This would be the biggest cut to Medicaid in U.S. history. Congress is trying to make budget cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. These cuts would lead to 13.7 million people losing their healthcare. Without care, disabled people will get hurt. Cuts mean that members of our community will get put into institutions. Cuts mean disabled people will die.
Congress is trying to hide that they are trying to make cuts to Medicaid. They might use words like “work requirements” or “eligibility testing” instead. These words still mean cuts. We’ve seen Congress do this other times with programs like SNAP. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a government program that helps people get food. When Congress made cuts to SNAP, people went hungry because of it. We know what cuts are. We will not be fooled.
We have information in the “action” section for how to contact your elected officials. Please call and tell them to protect Medicaid.
Robert F Kennedy Jr had a hearing in Congress last Wednesday. During this hearing, he continued to lie about vaccines. He showed that he did not know how the Department of Health and Human Services works. This is a big problem because RFK Jr. is supposed to lead this department.
RFK Jr. also talked about wanting people to get fake “cures” for autism. He said he planned on starting an autism registry again. He tried to say it was fine that he hired David Geier. David Geier did illegal medical experiments on autistic children. He pretended to be a doctor. He did exams and gave people drugs even though he is not a doctor. The state of Maryland said it was not okay for him to pretend to be a doctor. They made him pay a fine for pretending to be a doctor. But RFK Jr. said Maryland was wrong and this didn’t happen. He said that a court stopped the fine and said Maryland was wrong. This is not true.
ASAN had a round table with some other autism organizations. The round table was set up to share what autistic people care about. We invited RFK Jr. to come, but he did not come. He did not listen and learn from us.
This is the same way many people in the government have been acting. They have not tried to learn from us. They have not listened to our problems or worries. The government has hired people that lie about vaccines. It hired a man who did harmful medical experiments on autistic children without safety controls. The government has treated autistic people like a disease. And the government is trying to cut the services that help us survive to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
We will not accept this behavior. Here are some actions our community can take:
- Share our statement about RFK Jr. not listening to the autistic community.
- Share our statement about RFK Jr.’s hearing.
- Call your members of Congress. Here’s how.
Tell them you want no cuts or changes to Medicaid. Tell them no work requirements or new disability verification. - You can also tell them you don’t want cuts to disability services like:
- Protection and Advocacy agencies
- State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
- University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
If you can, this is also a great time to plan an in person meeting with your member of Congress.