3/17/26 - Trump administration cuts leave states to scramble
Hello!
It's all about Medicaid cuts to essential disability services in the US today ...
Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts
Bram Sable-Smith, Disability Scoop - March 10, 2026
"'We saw this coming. We’ve tried to educate members of Congress,' said Kim Musheno, the senior director of Medicaid policy at The Arc, a national disability rights organization ... 'Whenever there’s pressure on state budgets like those that are caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they go after Medicaid, and then they go after optional services,' Musheno said."
Idaho considers an ‘apocalyptic’ choice for disabled people and families
Sara Luterman, The 19th - March 2, 2026
"Gabriel is able to live at home because of Idaho’s home care program. If the program ceased to exist, nursing homes would reject Gabriel, according to Baugh. His medical needs are too complex ... 'He would need to go to a long-term acute nursing hospital, which would be terrible for him. I don’t even know if there are any openings. There’s maybe one or two across the state,' Baugh said ... There are safety issues with that kind of long-term hospitalization; Gabriel can’t push a nurse’s call button if something is wrong. But even more than that: At home, Baugh is able to ensure Gabriel does things he enjoys."
Share Your HCBS Story and Tell Congress: HANDS OFF HCBS!
American Association of People with Disabilities - March 13, 2026
"Approximately 4.5 million disabled people and older adults in the U.S. depend on HCBS, mainly through Medicaid. Yet, thousands of people with disabilities and older adults have been on waiting lists for many years. Others cannot get enough hours of support, find consistent personal attendants, and are forced to survive precariously day-to-day. As the populations of older adults and individuals with disabilities increase, so will the need for HCBS. Cuts to Medicaid and provider fraud will worsen waiting lists and harm the wages of the essential workers who deliver these services."
All three of these articles are about same thing – Medicaid cuts that are part of last year's "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. While supporters insisted at the time that it wouldn't cut Medicaid for most people with disabilities, the cuts it will impose will force states to make cuts where they can. And as these pieces point out, where they can usually includes home and community based services for disabled people.
Unfortunately, there wasn't time to share the AAPD request for stories in time to make a difference here. The deadline was yesterday, March 16. But the issues are still active. And there will always be a need for disabled people who rely on support services to tell their stories, and explain in detail what their services do for them. Non-disabled people generally know more about disability than they did 50 years ago. But the services many of us depend on are still something of a mystery to most people who don't use them. Telling our stories and explaining ourselves can be exhausting, even humiliating. But sometimes it has to be done.
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