Medicaid Matters 

Not Just for Individuals with Disabilities, but for All of Us. 

No one plans to become disabled. No one expects the system they trust, to employ them, to care for them, to protect them, to be the very one that fails them. But every year in America, millions of lives are shattered by exactly that.

It might be a construction worker who falls two stories after a broken safety harness. A young woman who loses mobility after a misdiagnosed infection. A grandfather who trips on the stairs, only to learn a spinal injury has left him paralyzed. A newborn with a birth injury that changes everything before life has even begun.

These are not rare stories. They are statistics. And they are warnings.

In 2022 alone, there were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries reported across the United States, many resulting in permanent disability. Unintentional injuries are the fourth leading cause of death in the country. Every five minutes, someone dies from a preventable accident. As for the healthcare system? It remains one of the most dangerous sectors, with medical errors estimated to cause over 250,000 deaths each year, and nearly 800,000 people permanently disabled or killed due to diagnostic error.

We trust our jobs, our hospitals, and our daily lives to systems. But when life strikes unexpectededly or when those systems break, we expect—we need—another one to catch us.

That’s why Medicaid exists.

Medicaid wasn’t created as charity or a handout. It was designed to be the safety net of last resort when everything else fails. And the truth is, it will likely touch all of us one day, because whether through aging, illness, accident, or error, we will all be disabled one day. We will all rely on care. And we will all need the systems we pay into to still be there when that day comes.

Yet those systems—especially Medicaid—are under threat.

Proposals to defund or restrict Medicaid aren’t just policy debates; they are decisions with life-and-death consequences for the people already harmed by the systems they were told to trust. Families with medically fragile children. Veterans with amputations. Workers with traumatic brain injuries. Seniors with dementia. These aren’t edge cases. They’re the reality of being human.

And before anyone suggests they “just sue,” let’s be clear: lawsuits take years, cost thousands, and rarely cover lifetime care. In the meantime, people need equipment, therapies, home modifications, and personal care. Medicaid is often the only way those needs are met.

But instead of protection, people face relentless audits, cuts, and eligibility reviews—as if a lifelong disability might disappear with a few forms. This isn’t fiscal responsibility. It’s cruelty disguised as policy.

If a person is permanently disabled—due to a workplace injury, a medical error, a fall, or the natural process of aging, then Medicaid should provide lifelong, comprehensive, and trauma-informed care without the constant threat of loss. That includes:

• Home and community-based services

• Durable medical equipment

• Therapies 

• Mental health and trauma supports

• Personal care assistants and respite

• Accessible housing, transportation, and case management

It’s time to stop treating Medicaid like a burden and start funding it like the lifeline it was always meant to be. If we expect people to work, to participate, and to survive after tragedy, then we must meet them with systems built for reality, not just spreadsheets.

Because the only thing more fragile than the human body is the illusion that we’re invincible.

And when that illusion shatters, Medicaid must be there—not just as a policy, but as a promise.

Sources:

• BMJ Quality & Safety (2023): “The incidence of diagnostic error in medicine”

• Johns Hopkins Medicine (2016): “Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.”

• National Safety Council (2023): “Injury Facts” – www.nsc.org

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023): “Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses”

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Unintentional Injury Deaths – FastStats”

• Social Security Administration (2005): “The Fraction of Disability Caused at Work”