Medicaid is a lifeline for millions – protect the neuromuscular community!

Join the fight to preserve Medicaid! We cannot let Congress make cuts to Medicaid, impose expensive and burdensome work requirements, or limit eligibility in any legislation.

Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to 72 million Americans, including many from the neuromuscular community. But, it is currently threatened by legislative action intended to gut the program in the name of government efficiency.

Recent proposals to negatively reform the already lean and efficient program include reduced funding for expansion coverage, capping federal spending, increasing enrollment and eligibility barriers, and taking away benefits to those in need. Reforms intended to strip Medicaid will result in fewer benefits for people living with neuromuscular conditions, reducing their ability to receive medical treatment, at-home care assistance, medical equipment, and the medication they need to live healthy lives. We need to put people first! Don’t let misguided Medicaid reforms revoke health insurance coverage from millions of Americans.

Medicaid covers a wide range of health concerns, and cuts to the program would jeopardize access to care for millions of Americans. Cancer would be diagnosed later. People with chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and liver disease, would go untreated and have worse health outcomes. Families would enter medical debt more frequently. People under psychological distress would postpone treatment. Hospital and nursing staff shortages would grow. Struggling state economies would take another hit.

Medicaid reform should never result in people losing critical, life-saving healthcare coverage. If people lose access to health insurance, it will compound other issues in the current U.S. healthcare system. Compounding issues, including lengthy home care waitlists, staffing issues at nursing facilities, maternal care, pediatric care (especially for those who receive specialized treatment, like those impacted by neuromuscular disease), and rural hospital disparity, are all at threat of being exacerbated if Medicaid funding is stripped. If these issues worsen, access to care and quality of care are at risk.

Americans rely on Medicaid for their health, safety, and independence, and we cannot afford any cuts. Tell Congress not to revoke our benefits! 

Join us to protect the program today. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Medicaid

Who relies on Medicaid for healthcare coverage?
Medicaid provides quality, affordable healthcare coverage for people with disabilities, low-income children, adults, pregnant individuals, and seniors. Medicaid covers basic medical services and long-term care for people with disabilities and certain incomes. Medicaid covers 2 in 5 non-elderly adults with a disability, 2 in 5 births, 2 in 5 children, 1 in 6 non-elderly adults, 1 in 4 people with mental illness, and 3 in 5 nursing facility residents.

Why is Medicaid under threat?
Congress is looking to make budget cuts this year and, unfortunately, Medicaid has become a target due to the breadth of the program.

What happens if Medicaid reform results in people losing coverage?
Cuts to the program would jeopardize people’s access to care. People with neuromuscular diseases would face delayed treatments, be unable to afford medication, and have greater difficulty finding homecare assistance they need to thrive. Medicaid benefits enable people with these diseases to live independently by enabling them to receive the support they need to thrive in their personal and professional lives. Medicaid coverage provides access to critical services like home care, medical equipment, routine treatment, and medical guidance and must be protected.

How will cutting federal Medicaid impact state budgets?
Limiting or reducing federal Medicaid spending through per capita caps or block grants would shift costs to the states, creating huge gaps in their budgets and leading to reductions in benefits, accessibility, and availability of Medicaid services. Medicaid is the largest amount of federal spending sent to the states, and Medicaid is the largest portion of state spending – revoking this would create lasting negative impacts for state budgets. This would likely force states to reduce or eliminate coverage and services for people with the highest cost needs: people with disabilities and older adults who need long-term services and support. Cutting federal funding would result in cuts to home and community-based services, harm to nursing facility residents, worsening workforce shortages, and reductions in coverage.  

What is the danger of imposing work requirements?
Imposing work requirements would be harmful in a variety of ways and is a harmful approach to legislation. Most working-age adults in Medicaid already work. Many of those not doing paid work are either caregivers or persons with chronic conditions or disabilities, who might either be temporarily unable to work or require supportive services to secure and maintain employment. Others are students.

Medicaid helps people with disabilities work, by providing them with health care and other important employment supports, such as rehabilitative and habilitative services. People with disabilities, older adults, and their caregivers cannot be effectively “carved out” of work requirements and will be inevitably harmed.

These requirements do not increase employment but instead create costly red tape through reporting requirements that puts people with disabilities at particular risk of losing coverage and wastes millions of dollars that could be used to provide additional Medicaid services or other employment support, such as affordable childcare and aging and disability care.

How do I get involved in protecting Medicaid?
Reaching out to your Congressperson and Senators to urge them to protect Medicaid and its beneficiaries is the best method to ensuring the program remains fully funded. You can email your member of Congress easily via this webpage.  Also, phone calls to their Washington, D.C. and district offices, emails to their public inboxes, and “Contact Us” forms on their Congressional websites are all great options to engage. 

If you would like your experience to influence Congress’ decision to protect Medicaid benefits, please share your story about how Medicaid is empowering you to live a healthy life here.

Protect millions of Americans’ access to stable, reliable, and affordable health insurance.