The American Health Care Act (AHCA, AKA TrumpCare) received strong opposition, particularly from Americans with disabilities, almost immediately after it was released to the public. One group voicing their strong opposition was disability rights organization ADAPT, which held a protest at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office. ADAPT is run by and for people with disabilities, and has operated for 25 years. At Ramos Law, we were moved by the energy and determination of the ADAPT activists who were arrested for engaging in Civil Disobedience at the Capitol. Here is a video clip showing the protest:
Also, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) has issued a statement against the AHCA. For the statement from NOSSCR’s executive director Barbara R. Silverstone click here:
https://www.nosscr.org/news/2017/06/statement-response-senate-health-care-bill
AHCA, if passed, would throw approximately 24 million people off health insurance and raise costs of premiums. Ten million current Medicaid enrollees have disabilities and are now at risk of losing their health insurance. Loss of basic health insurance and healthcare will have devastating repercussions. SSDI claimants who have lost health insurance will lose access to doctors’ visits, making it harder to obtain the medical evidence needed to support their cases.
Medicaid and SSDI work hand in hand in supporting people with disabilities in living independent and healthy lives. Many people rely on both the healthcare they have through medicaid and the supplemental income they receive through SSI and SSDI. In a press release, representatives from ADAPT expressed concerns that with AHCA’s cuts to Medicaid, many Americans with disabilities will be institutionalized against their will because they will no longer be able to afford the resources that they need to live independently.
Mike Oxford, and ADAPT organizer from Kansas, said, “Home and community based services are what allow us to do our jobs, live our lives and raise our families. Without these services many disabled and elderly Americans will die. We won’t let that happen.”
