ICYMI: The Republican Tax Law is Making it Harder for Sick and Disabled Americans to Access Health Care
Washington D.C — A new story from NPR highlights the real-world harm that Medicaid cuts from the Republican Tax Law are having on millions of people, especially the disabled and people facing chronic illnesses. The piece reports on 19-year-old cancer survivor Taya Hailstone and her fight to keep her health care. If Taya can’t win her appeal to qualify for Medicaid due to her disability, she could become subject to the new and stricter regulations of the Republican Tax Law’s Medicaid cuts which jeopardize the health care of people with severe health conditions.
Taya’s story highlights the dire consequences many could face due to these Medicaid cuts. Ten million people could lose their health coverage as a result of the Republican Tax Law, which threatens to send Taya new administrative obstacles that make it harder to access the care she and millions of others need to survive.
NPR: A cancer survivor hoped to work — then she lost her Medicaid disability coverage
Key Points:
- Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. But the cancer’s lasting damage to her organs and nerves can make basic tasks, like loading a dishwasher, hard.
- Montana’s health department decided last year that Hailstone is no longer eligible for low-cost disability health coverage through Medicaid.
- Hailstone, who lives with her mom, has been able to keep Medicaid coverage while they appeal the case. She said that without Medicaid she can’t afford the treatment to manage the aftermath of her cancer.
- New federal Medicaid work requirements mean states face the additional task of deciding who qualifies for a medical exemption. That means reviewing medical cases for an even larger swath of Medicaid enrollees.
- An estimated 18.5 million people will have to meet the new federal requirements, by proving they’re working, going to school, or volunteering to keep their Medicaid coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
- More than 5 million people are expected to lose Medicaid coverage by 2034 because of the work requirements, according to the CBO.
- Families USA and other organizations have argued the new rules force states to set up a patchwork of systems that, together, would be larger and more complicated than the Social Security Administration’s own disability review system.
- In June, 25 states sued the Trump administration over the medical frailty rules, arguing they’re too hard for patients to meet and for states to assess. That case is ongoing.
- Taya Hailstone would qualify for Medicaid based on her income if she can’t prove her eligibility for disability coverage. But that would mean proving she’s too sick to meet the work requirement — putting her in the same position of having to rely on a state review of her illness. “If I lose this, this is life-changing,” Hailstone said.
- Hailstone qualified as disabled through the federal government as recently as 2024, about a year before the state said it was dropping her coverage. State officials can do their own medical review to determine whether someone meets the federal definition of a disability to access Medicaid.
- Montana officials have said they’ll automatically review medical records that could help patients qualify for an exemption. Even so, the federal guidelines released in June mean patients will probably still face additional steps to guarantee an exemption.
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About Unrig Our Economy
Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.