1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I am extremely concerned that the budget reconciliation bill (“Reconciliation Bill”) recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives will have unintended negative consequences for people with disabilities and their family caregivers, as well as the direct support professionals (DSPs) who provide vital services for people with disabilities to live, work, and thrive in the community. Medicaid is a vital lifeline and serves as the primary health insurance for most adults with Disabilities It provides coverage for essential medical services like doctors’ visits, hospital stays, and prescriptions. Additionally, it provides funding to schools for many of the services that students with disabilities receive such as speech and occupational therapy, behavioral supports, and more. A combination of state and federal dollars fund Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Medicaid waivers for people with disabilities. These waivers provide services like job coaching, personal care supports, assistive technology, home health care, and more so that people with disabilities can live, work, and thrive in their communities. I fully recognize that the current Medicaid system needs to be improved to work better for all stakeholders. However, the methods included in the Reconciliation Bill will only serve to add more bureaucratic red tape and further destabilize the Medicaid system. Regardless of any good intentions, the fact is that people with disabilities will be hurt in many ways by this legislative proposal. My own daughter is a recipient of the HCBS waiver and would not receive vital care without it, including coverage for her G-tube supplies, for which our commercial insurance has already denied coverage. She literally needs this care to live, and without the HCBS waiver, our family would not be able to afford the cost of her supplies. Please vote against this bill as it is written, as it will have detrimental impact for the disability community.