Congress Moves to Cut Medicaid, by Lindsey Copeland, Medicare Rights Center

 Yesterday, Senate Republicans released a budget resolution that sets the stage for significant program cuts. The House and Senate are still negotiating policy specifics, but Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and SNAP remain under threat. 

...

Fighting Back: A Citizen's Guide to Resistance - by Timothy Noah, New Republic 

"Democracy is not a spectator sport."

That truism has been repeated by notables from Gen. Jim Mattis to Barack Obama to George Shultz, Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state. But it’s fitting that the person credited with first saying it was a private citizen whom nobody particularly remembers.

Lotte Scharfman (1928–1970) was a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria who became president of the Massachusetts chapter of the League of Women Voters. Her cause was an obscure one: She wanted to reduce the size of Massachusetts’s bloated House of Representatives from 240 members to 160. The measure failed on its first vote in the House in 1970, for the obvious reason that no representative wanted to risk losing their own seat. But after several House members were voted out later that year for opposing the reform measure, it cleared the state legislature, and in 1974 it won overwhelming approval from Massachusetts voters.

... 

 The Trump administration recently cancelled billions of dollars in funding to the NIH. Healthcare experts say the funding cuts will delay the pace of medical research in the U.S. — which will not only hamper the commercialization of life-saving treatments, but could also hurt the country’s position as a global leader in healthcare and technology. 

Michigan Doctors Gather to Protest Recent Cuts to Medicaid. 13 on Your Side.

A group of physicians appeared at a hearing at the Michigan Statehouse to speak out against Medicaid cuts.

 Attend a Town Hall Event
Find an event near you by checking your members of Congress’ websites and social media. At the town hall, share why Medicaid matters to you or someone you know and why cuts would be harmful. 

 Act Now to Protect Medicaid
Send a message to Congress now and tell them to protect Medicaid for the millions of people with disabilities who rely on it for health care and more. 

 Connect With a Local Chapter
If you can’t find a town hall event near you, contact your state or local chapter of The Arc to find out if they have a meeting coming up with a member of Congress or their staff or other activities you can join. 

 Share Your Story
Use the resources in our storytelling toolkit to learn how to effectively share your story with elected officials to raise awareness about Medicaid. 

 Thank you for joining us yesterday for the Hands Off Medicaid virtual rally! With the stakes rising every day in this unprecedented time, all of us at Protect Our Care deeply appreciate your participation in this campaign. Critical health care coverage for millions of Americans is on the chopping block just so Trump and his Republican allies can hand out more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. As long as they’re working to gut Medicaid, we’ll be in the fight to preserve access to affordable health care. That’s why your continuous enthusiasm means so much in the fight to preserve and protect Medicaid.

Watch the full event here.

How can I help?

• Call Congress. Republican Members of Congress torn between party commitments and the needs of their constituents are feeling the heat. Make sure your representatives hear how Medicaid cuts would harm their constituents. Follow our simple script or tell your health care story to keep up the pressure!
• Educate others. Protect Our Care’s new fact sheets outline how Medicaid is a lifeline for 70 million Americans across the country and how any cuts will have devastating consequences. Learn how cuts would affect your state, and make sure your friends and neighbors know what’s at stake locally.
• Stay informed. The GOP war on health care goes far beyond efforts to cut Medicaid. Keep up with the latest developments by following Protect Our Care’s sabotage tracker, where we will continue to monitor all of the ways Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans are targeting health care.

Let’s keep it up!

Thank you again,
Team Protect Our Care

The battle to preserve Medicaid is going on not only at the federal level but in the state legislatures as well. In Ohio 38% of all Medicaid funding comes from the state government. On February 26 four members of the Developmental Disabilities Budget Coalition will testify before the Health Committee and the Finance Committee of the Ohio Legislature regarding Medicaid funding for the next two years. They will follow Kim Hauck, Director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. Speak up! Contact the your state representative on this page to preserve and expand Medicaid funding!

Click on this link to find The Arc's call to action to protect the Department of Education. 

"The Department of Education is crucial for students with disabilities."

Go to  view.emails.thearc.org/?qs=d57a6330e5faa8d5c2a24e1428b54dd412e2f4c496a8c28c883f558e748e409abc95d3323e37cfc1b119da7ac1bd3331905fe50723f1ee351cba3de74be844382ccd8ee7553885adc33374b1b6814940 

Click on this link to find The Arc's call to action to protect Medicaid. "Medicaid is a lifeline for students with disabilities." 

Go to  https://action.thearc.org/MPAZgOs?_ga=2.140501108.672045571.1740078229-1656022859.1738186946

Disability Scoop reposted this article by Jordan Anderson at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He says:

"The future of Medicaid, the nation’s largest public health insurance program, hangs in the balance as House Republicans push for deep budget cuts that could drastically reshape it.

In Pennsylvania, where 3 million residents rely on Medicaid, advocates like Shana Jalbert, communications director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, worry about the vulnerable populations that stand to lose coverage.

Statewide, Medicaid covers about 40% of children and 33% of seniors, pregnant women and people with disabilities. The remaining 25% are low-wage workers without employer-provided insurance."

An effort is underway to make drastic cuts to federal funding for Medicaidd. Medicaid not only provides health care for our loved ones with DD; it also provides funds for group homes and Medicaid waivers. In Ohio 62% of all Medicaid funding comes from the federal government.

Here is a link to a Channel 5 news story on this crisis: Potential cuts to Medicaid could impact programs providing services to those with developmental disabilities (John Kosich, Channel 5 Cleveland, February 18, 2025).

There is an ongoing attempt to abolish the federal Department of Education. The federal Department of Education oversees and funds special education throughout the United States. If the Department of Education is abolished then so are all of the rules and regulations that protect children with special needs. Moreover the Department of Education distributes most of the funding for special education throughout the United States. If the Department of Education is abolished then where will the money for special education come from?