Anxiety Over Access to Healthcare is Clouding Disability Pride Month

As an advocate for people with disabilities, I'd like to express my support and concern this Disability Pride Month for members of our community who may be impacted by the recently passed federal budget bill which, for the first time, will impose specific work requirements on Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) recipients which states cannot waive.

As a person with multiple congenital and acquired disabilities who was orphaned as a young woman (and thus left without family support) but who never applied for Social Security Disability due to earning over the Substantial Gainful Activity level (currently $1,620 per month), I have a lifetime of experience navigating challenges to accessing healthcare, higher education, and meaningful work. I know from personal experience how difficult this is in a country which ties health insurance to work for most people under 65 rather than providing healthcare access to all funded through progressive taxation as many other countries do. I hope that those of you without disabilities will join me in supporting the many members of the disability community who may be in a state of anxiety rather than celebration this July due to fear of losing access to healthcare through Medicaid..

Although some representatives who voted for the recently passed federal bill are representing people with disabilities as being protected from losing access to care, many people who have disabilities causing significant functional impairments do not meet the stringent requirements for Social Security Disability and have instead accessed Medicaid through income requirements only. Zylla & Lukanen (2025) explain the situation well for those not personally familiar with how Medicaid supports people with disabilities, including those not currently receiving Social Security Disability benefits.

Depending on how states define and verify "disability" exemptions to work requirements for people not receiving SSDI/Medicare/Medicaid, many people with very significant health issues/functional limitations may risk losing their access to health insurance through Medicaid due to neither being able to qualify for very narrowly defined exempt disability status nor being able to meet the very specific work requirements in this newly passed bill.

So, dear community, while you are celebrating the contributions of your friends and colleagues with disabilities to our society this July during Disability Pride Month, please be mindful of the very scary situation many are now in and make your elected representatives aware of your concern.

Reference:

Zylla, E. & Lukanen, E. (2025, June 20). The disability gap in Medicaid: Implications for the federal work requirement proposal. State Health and Value Strategies. https://shvs.org/the-disability-gap-in-medicaid-implications-for-the-federal-work-requirement-proposal/

Originally published on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anxiety-over-access-healthcare-clouding-disability-pride-nelson-ddexc/?