Save Medicaid & IDEA: Cindy & Thomas Hammerquist (New York)
Image Description: A close-up of Thomas waving a bubble wand and surrounded by large iridescent bubbles.
Tell Congress kids with disabilities shouldn’t be forced to pay the U.S. debt!
In exchange for raising the debt ceiling, Republican leaders are demanding extreme cuts to essential programs, including Medicaid and education for kids with disabilities, that impact millions of Americans – including our Little Lobbyists families.
Thomas is sixteen. He’s a happy guy who loves Star Wars, pop music and root beer. He has a hello and goodbye for everyone and everything - “So long Target!” He loves movies and has Star Wars and Toy Story mostly memorized. He loves to go places in the car and order milkshakes in the drive thru, especially the magical McDonald’s. He is going through a book phase currently (even though he doesn’t read yet) and loves to carry a stack of books with his Darth Vader action figure sandwiched in the middle. Thomas cannot see the bad in anybody and can make the grumpiest person smile. We are so lucky to have him! He is an asset to the planet.
Thomas was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) when he was three months old and began having seizures. TSC causes benign tumors to form in the tissues of the body, primarily the brain. TSC affects everyone differently and Thomas is deeply affected, with tumors all over his brain. The tumors even interfered with the development of his left eye in utero, and he is blind in that eye. Thomas has had many hospitalizations for seizures and has had two rounds of brain surgery and several surgeries on his kidneys and ankle.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the Republican debt ceiling bill would cut Federal Medicaid funds by kicking 1.5 million people off their health coverage annually. It would also increase the amount states pay for Medicaid by $6.5 billion per year. Experts predict that many states would end Medicaid coverage as a result. How would that affect Thomas?
Medicaid pays for what our insurance does not. Thomas’ many hospitalizations, his very expensive anti-seizure meds, and the cost of his health care aides would have bankrupted us many times over without it.
Thomas would be isolated at home without his Medicaid-paid aide to take him out in the community: to the park and the library. I wouldn’t be able to run my small business because I would need to care for him full time. His sister would have far less attention from us and less freedom. We would be financially devastated by the costs of his medications alone.
Image description: Thomas, smiling and wearing a navy hoodie, poses under the branches of a tree covered in pink blossoms.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has NEVER been fully funded. Despite the fact that the Federal government pays only 16% of IDEA costs, Republicans want to cut an additional $31 billion over the next decade. This year alone, our kids would lose $3.1 billion, equivalent to firing 48,000 special education teachers and inclusion personnel, affecting 7.5 million students with disabilities. How would that affect Thomas?
Thomas goes to public school for children with disabilities. He receives life-changing therapies and instruction, including occupational, physical and vision therapy; orientation and mobility training; and group and family therapy. The school also provides social experiences: plays, proms, dances, and vocational training. Thomas has grown so much because he’s able to attend a school that meets his needs. He would not have thrived without it.
Republicans claim they need to cut these programs to cover the U.S. deficit, but that’s just not true. As House Republicans voted to cut our kids’ health care and education, they also introduced legislation to make permanent the “Trump tax cuts” that will cost the U.S. $1.7 trillion by the end of this year.
It seems like Congressional Republicans want our kids with disabilities to cover the U.S. debt to pay for the cost of their tax cuts to the ultra rich. We can’t let them get away with that.