Cuts to this vital service maybe fatal to millions of Americans
Hello, my name is Jacob Austin, and I have a disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. I am writing this letter to hopefully show people that cuts to Medicaid would cause many families to fall apart and lose their loved ones.
My journey began when I was diagnosed with DMD when I was just three years old, most children are not diagnosed this early. The younger children are diagnosed with this disease the more treatment options there are available to them. Unfortunately, the current federal administration has decided to make cuts to the programs that help with early diagnosis.
Some might think that Medicaid is just for people to get insurance, but it pays for so many more things than that. In school I had an IEP, which is a document that details what services and help I require to have a good learning experience. This document is also what authorizes payments for an aide in school so that the children can have help with being able to go to school. There is so much that IEPs can help with – a book could be written on it. These are just the things that I personally have had assistance with. With these upcoming cuts to Medicaid there may be nothing to pay for these services, which could cause thousands of disabled children like me to not be able to attend school. Taking away OT, PT, and other services would destroy the lives of these children.
Medicaid also helps to pay for the medical equipment that I need to be able to even get out of my house, or to be able to sleep at night. I have a hospital bed that I need to be able to stretch out and sit up in. Without this funding I would not be able to move on my own, this would completely take away my mobility. At night, in order to breathe, I require a sleeping machine that is also covered by Medicaid. Due to my illness my lung function slowly decreases, causing me to need a machine that helps me cough. Even taking a shower requires me to have more equipment, that Medicaid helps me to get. There are so many more things that Medicaid helps people live their lives.
Something that everyone takes for granted is being able to just be in public on their own and without assistance. For me and thousands of other disabled people we cannot go places alone because of all the help we require. The aides that are paid for with Medicaid ensures that my parents can work and do the things they need to do. If I had no aides and my parents needed to help me, we would not be able to afford food or shelter. Having a disability creates a large financial burden on families and can take the attention away from other things. Due to my illness there are a lot of medications and therapies that I need to stay healthy. One of the medicines I need to stay alive cost more than ten-thousand dollars a month, this is not the only one that I require.
These proposed cuts would also halt research for this disease and many others. I try not to think about it, but the life expectancy of someone with my diagnosis is twenty-five years old. With each study they are working toward extending this, gutting the funding will make children suffer and die young. These cuts to Medicaid could be fatal for millions of people, including me and my brother.
Please talk to your friends and extended family about how Medicaid cuts will impact them.
Sincerely,
Jacob Austin, Rushford
