3/23/26 - "Fraud," taxis, and veterans' benefits

Good afternoon!

Welcome to a new week. These are links I set up for last Thursday, but skipped to take a sick day. Still, they seem fresh enough to run!

Unfounded Fraud Allegations Threaten Vital Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services

Jane Tavares, Alison Barkoff, Sara Rosenbaum, Marc A. Cohen, Health Affairs - March 16, 2026

"Everyone would agree that, just as is true for all public and private health insurance programs, fraud prevention is essential in Medicaid, which finances care for more than 80 million Americans and accounts for nearly one-third of total state expenditures. Safeguarding public funds is an important shared federal-state obligation. But the tools to fight fraud must be effective and precise, especially when applied to HCBS, which is critical to the safety and independence of disabled people and older adults—the very populations CMS claims to be focused on protecting. CMS’s framing of HCBS as inherently suspect suggests that in-home care lacks effective guardrails. This completely overlooks the fact that furnishing care in home and community settings has been a Medicaid program feature for decades."

Whether people's concerns about Medicaid fraud in any department are honest or not, there has to be a reality underneath all the bluster and narratives. The problem seems to have three main parts. First, people have very different, and often very skewed idea of how much Medicaid "fraud" would actually constitute a problem or a crisis, and not just a low-level of unavoidable leakage that even the best-run programs have. Second, some people regard Medicaid fraud as so morally reprehensible that any amount of it should be considered unacceptable. Third, and finally – and I would suggest most importantly – there are people who cynically use the idea of Medicaid fraud to undermine Medicaid itself. They don't like it. They resent every penny spent on it. As a matter of political and philosophical principle they don't think it should exist. So anything they can use to mess with Medicaid is fair game. All of which underscores the importance of the fact that Medicaid fraud exists, but isn't nearly the problem it's portrayed to be, and certainly isn't worth robbing disabled people of their freedom.

A sudden change to how VA evaluates disabilities triggers swift backlash

Terry Gerton, Federal News Network - March 11, 2026

"I think their actions speak for themselves in terms of how seriously they’ve taken it, because not only do they pause it, they have now formally rescinded the rule as of a few days after they paused it. So I think they’re taking it seriously. I think what generated that level of engagement was at least this belief that veterans benefits were going to be cut. Look, that is like a third rail of all politics. If you threaten to cut veterans benefits, you’re subject to get a real serious lashing. And I think that’s what happened here."

It's worth reading the whole interview. It includes an important discussion about whether someone is still "disabled" if they have enough treatments or adaptive equipment to live well with their disability – and if that means they don't need benefits or supports any more. That was the idea behind the Veteran's Administration's proposal, which it has since apparently withdrawn. What I also wonder is whether it's just the fact that the backlash was from veterans that made it politically effective? Or, can other disability groups and coalitions learn from this specific situation and apply it to other efforts to cut or eliminate disability services?

Autonomous Taxis Won't Be Accessible With Laws Like These

John Morris, Wheelchairtravel.org - March 16, 2026

"The self-driving technology introduced by companies like Tesla and Waymo is fantastic, but the laws which permit companies to deploy it on American roadways are set to leave wheelchair users behind. If we do not act now, autonomous taxis will just as inaccessible to wheelchair users as the rideshare services of today."

For reasons of my age probably, and a general skepticism of certain new technologies, I have never felt much excitement about self-driving cars ever being much a benefit to disabled people. But objectively, I should probably get over my grumpy attitude and admit that these technologies really could and certainly should make our lives better. New technology can be a real asset to people with disabilities. But it doesn't happen by accident. We have to lay the legal and regulatory groundwork early, and very carefully.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media. You can also comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com. Collected comments are shared on the first of each month. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

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