Kent RICC

People with disabilities and agency staff working together to improve life for all. Kent RICC is su

03/01/2025

I know it's been a while since you've heard anything from me, but as you may know the US House of Representatives is looking to make cuts to Medicaid as part of their upcoming budget. I've been trying to keep updated on how we can fight to keep as much of Medicaid as possible, and I want to pass this information along from a livestream I watched tonight.

Update on the defense of Medicaid

The most important thing you can do right now to help defend Medicaid is to tell your Medicaid Story. Republicans are split right now on how they want to cut Medicaid, and “every day we can delay is a day that people get Medicaid.” (Matthew Cortland from Data for Progress)

Deciding what to write or if you want to tell your story at all:
- It’s a dark world right now, and once you put your story out into the world, you can’t take it back. Elected representatives may use your story in ways that you don’t expect or don’t like. YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL YOUR STORY IF YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT.
- If you send someone your story in writing, you don’t have to use your full name. You can sign it “Kim from Grand Rapids,” for example.
- Telling your story MATTERS.
- If your story is about how work requirements negatively impacted your care, it can be especially important right now.

Who to send your story to:
- The federal House Energy and Commerce Committee has control over Medicaid in the House of Representatives. IF YOU’RE COMFORTABLE, you can send your story to the Committee’s Story Bank, here:
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=mYITktAiSU2NMHFw1YltmGgyEoT7AelNgkDA0TH4jSFUOTczTTk4VUtVMTRRMDVDSkdQRDVZRVZVRSQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl
- If you’re not comfortable sending your story to the Committee, you can still send it to your Representative using their email form. If you don’t know how to find your Representative, reach out to me and I can help.
- Print out your story, and either alone or with a group set up a meeting with Governor Whitmer’s staff, or the local staff for your Representative to talk about it.

If you’re not comfortable sharing your Medicaid story:
- Help others who want to share their stories
- Call your Representatives and tell them you support Medicaid without work requirements

What to write:
- Keep your story short and personal.
- Start by introducing yourself; “My name is [name] from [City]” is enough, but you can put a little more if you want to.
- Spend one paragraph finishing the statement: “Medicaid has improved my life by …”
- If you know that you receive Medicaid because of the Medicaid expansion, make sure to say that.
- If you were impacted by Medicaid work requirements, spend another paragraph finishing the statement: “Medicaid work requirements made my life harder by …”
- Thank your reader and sign your name or initials.

This is going to be a hard fight. We won’t be able to prevent all of the cuts to Medicaid right now. The goal is to keep as much as possible for as many people as possible.

We’re in this together.
Kim Frost