Medicaid Glass Ceiling

People with disabilities striving for equality

By Christina Clift

I think the Medicaid Work Requirement intends to build a road out of poverty for “able bodied” citizens but I believe it denies people with disabilities equal opportunities and paves the way for us into poverty. In a recent article published in the Tennessean, Jordan Ebert examines a bill introduced by Beth Harwell.  The bill would require Medicaid recipients to work if they are “able bodied” and do not have young children. 

The article from the Tennessean offers the point of view that requiring people to work is a bad idea and would cost the state more money than it would save. Similar requirements are required of individuals receiving SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. 

James Powers, Chair of the Council on Aging of Middle Tennessee’s legislative and advocacy committee says, only about 22,300 of the roughly 300,000 individuals on TennCare would be impacted by the new requirements.  The rest are already working, are elderly or disabled, have young children, or fall under other exemptions according to the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance.

But why aren’t people with disabilities included under the requirements to work? 

Carol Westlake, Director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition said “I think that one of the most significant barriers we see in people with chronic conditions, chronic illnesses, and often times disabilities is a stamina issue. She continued “if you could get to work even a job that may involve being at a desk can be really really difficult.” 

Well, no one ever said that having a job should be easy or isn’t tiring. I believe it does more harm than good to exclude people with disabilities from these requirements.  The law that protects our civil rights requires businesses to make reasonable accommodation to include us in the workforce but there is no requirement to hire someone who is not qualified.

Yes, in order to put these types of requirements in place people with disabilities will need reasonable accommodations.  By not requiring us to work, it just lets everyone off the hook including people with disabilities. 

As long as we are left out then public entities are not forced to address barriers that have existed for decades that keep people with disabilities out of the workforce and dependent on a government check.  These barriers include inadequately funded public transportation, access to equipment and assistive devices, expanding the HCBS services, and dispelling the idea that people with disabilities can’t work.  If we are really serious about nothing about us without us then people with disabilities will need to get in the game and off the sidelines. 

 Do you remember your first job?  Do you remember what it felt like when you received your first paycheck?  I do. My first job was working as a camp counselor at a camp for blind kids.  I was payed $250, all while having fun and earning college credit. 

I moved on to having other jobs with Time Warner, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and for the past 15 years at the Memphis Center for Independent Living.  But I know that my story is the exception and not the norm when it comes to employment of people with disabilities.  Unfortunately the national unemployment rate for people with disabilities in June 2017 was 10.5 percent, twice that of non-disabled people. 

But our legislators up in arms about high unemployment for people with disabilities.  I know that there are barriers to working because I encountered them and had to find a way to continue working. But perhaps another obstacle in our way is ourselves and the programs that exempt us from working.  For some people volunteer work is how they build a resume.  It’s how you learn what you would like to do or what you can do. 

Do people with disabilities want equality and eat their cake too?  In other words, do we want equality when it comes to employment, educational opportunities, and the ability to participate in community life but when it comes to being held to the same rigid requirements proposed to keep Medicaid or SNAP benefits we are okay with being left out just because we have a disability?  I believe that people with disabilities should be held to the same standards that able bodied individuals must meet to continue receiving these types of government benefits.  After all we aren’t special and we shouldn’t expect special treatment only a reasonable accommodation. 

I’m not sure whether it’s sadder that we are automatically excluded by our legislators or that people with disabilities are okay with being left out.  Are we really okay being thought of as second-class citizens unable to do the same work as able bodied folks?  I don’t want people to think that I got my job because I have a disability. 

The bill introduced by Beth Harwell to require able bodied individuals receiving Medicaid to work will once again exclude people with disabilities from having to work and that will do nothing more than continue to perpetuate the myths that we can’t work.  People with disabilities should be included in every aspect of community life that includes being gainfully employed. 

Some individuals with disabilities count on being excluded from this piece of legislation.  In some case reliance upon social security benefits has become welfare for people with disabilities.  I say no.  It’s human nature to take the easy road, but sometimes the best results come from challenges we face, the obstacles we overcome, and changes we must make in order to continue to strive towards a better life and ultimately true equality.  Enforcing a requirement of persons with disabilities to work in these programs will begin that process.