Late last night I started to receive texts and emails from co-workers and peer groups saying “They are going after Medicaid”. Of course they are. Shock and Awe and then Repeat. Give me a second while I take my earrings off and roll up my sleeves and put my hair into a pony tail….
To be clear, Medicaid services provide a safety net for the most vulnerable people that live amongst us:
Children with terminal illnesses? Supported by Medicaid
The Elderly? Supported by Medicaid
The Blind? Supported by Medicaid
People with severe cognitive disabilities? Supported by Medicaid
People with brain injuries? Supported by Medicaid
People with severe mental illness? Supported by Medicaid
People with physical disabilities? Supported by Medicaid
Children in foster care? Supported by Medicaid
The list goes on and in my 20+ years of work as a Social Worker….. I have directly supported individuals and families from every single one of these categories above. Every. Single. One.
These are not individuals that are ‘milking’ the system or are unmotivated to find jobs or are making personal choices that put a strain on the system. Those people need help too, to be clear, but often politics portrays this group as the only recipients of “welfare” (aka Medicaid). This is who the general public thinks of when welfare is thrown into the political conversation.
I’ll tell you what Medicaid is:
- Medicaid is what keeps people with down syndrome living in a community home and not in a homeless shelter.
- Medicaid is what supports your family member when they have a ski accident and a resulting brain injury that will mean they require 24/7 care the rest of their life
- Medicaid is what pays for food and shelter for children who lost their parents and have nowhere else to go.
- Medicaid is what provides essential medication to someone that needs it to survive.
- Medicaid is what keeps the most vulnerable people in our communities surviving and thriving.
- Medicaid is what you hope you will never need in your life, but you will be eternally grateful if you ever do.
I run a company (funded by Medicaid) and I understand difficult budget decisions, I truly do. I’ve been in the seat where you have to decide which critical service is more necessary than the other critical service. What did I do in that situation? It was simple actually: I cut everything else first. The US budget is big and there are many ways (6 trillion ways if you want to be technical) to shave it down without threatening the critical safety net services that the most in need depend on.
When covid hit in 2020 and we lost 25% of our Medicaid funding overnight I sent out a flurry of emails (the CEO’s version of Executive Orders) the next day to our 500+ employees immediately ending everything that wasn’t 100% necessary to the basic services of care and we hunkered down to provide exactly that. We didn’t take a few months off and work from home while the world recovered. We put our masks on and went to knock on the door of the person with cognitive disabilities that depended on us for help with their medications and grocery shopping. We did the work that needed to be done because there were critical services that depended on us.
One could look at the providers of safety net services and say “Well you have a self serving interest” and my response to that is: “Give me a break – We can all find another job”. Social Workers are never without employment options in our society….because the need is so great….and that is the point.
All that said, I agree that the US budget needs some help and I want Trump to know: If I will soon be available for hire then I want the job of fixing the budget.
Do I truly think that I am capable of fixing the budget without cutting critical safety net services? Yes, I really do – Call me any time and I’ll be there. Bring it on. Hell, if the budget is in such a place of despair then I’ll even work for free. My only request is that any person who is in charge of reviewing which services matter and which services don’t should spend a day working in our company providing care to people with extreme cognitive and developmental disabilities. Don't have a full day available? Just give me one hour… I promise that just one hour will change your life and your perspective.
So Trump, I’ll fix your budget without harming the most critical in need and I will even do it with my earrings on and my hair down. I may even throw in some high heels, which I could never wear at our Medicaid-funded work due to the impracticalities of changing adult diapers in stilettos. I would fix the budget without threatening the safety net. That call to action is easy compared to what we do as social workers every day providing the care that is critical to the people most in need of our society.
Fight for the Safety Net
If you speak out for change,
they may accuse you of being self-serving;
Speak out anyway.
Change It Anyway 