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As a disabled woman & wheelchair user, I’ve been fending off my insurance company’s cuts for years. Today, they finally got a judge to side with them—and now I can’t go back to college next semester. The American healthcare system has just, quite literally, ruined my future.
What does it say about our country when a for-profit insurance company can tell me, my doctors, and several independent medical experts that we’re all wrong about my care needs, thereby preventing me from ever living independently? #CripTheVote
They’ve nearly cut my care hours in half. This will prevent me from having an aide help me get dressed, shower, go to the bathroom, etc. At this point, my family and I are talking about what will happen if my Mom has to quit her job to stay home and take care of me. #CripTheVote
Our Medicaid system is supposed to keep disabled people and their families out of poverty, living life with some semblance of normalcy. But when this responsibility is put in the hands of private insurance companies, of course they abuse their power. #CripTheVote
I can’t tell you how many of my disabled friends have suffered through the same awful situation. I can’t tell you the panic I feel, knowing that I might not have the help I need tomorrow or the next day, and that my needs might become a burden to my family. #CripTheVote
In today’s healthcare system, for-profit insurance companies can abuse their power to prevent promising disabled people from living their lives and pursuing their passions—without any consequences at all. How much do we have to suffer before something changes? #CripTheVote
For those looking to help: I’m trying to get my story, and the thousands of others like mine, into the media. If you happen to know reporters willing to cover this, msg me! For local outlets, I can connect you w/ someone in your state. For nat’l, I can get a diverse group of us.
A lot of people have asked about a GoFundMe—I’ve decided not to create one because 1) it might sustain me for a few years, but it’ll do nothing for the thousands of other disabled people in this situation. I want to pressure my state government and insurance co into real reform.
2) Accepting any money can make me lose even more of my services before I actually have the ability to pay for them. Under current Medicaid regs, disabled people are kept in a poverty trap. See my prior work below for more details. The system is so broken. google.com/amp/s/amp.app.…
coverage of this story by my local newspaper: google.com/amp/s/amp.app.…
