Urgent Action Alert: Call Your U.S. Senators Today
The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on H.R.1, a budget reconciliation bill that would reduce Medicaid spending by over $800 billion. These drastic cuts threaten the health, independence, and education of our nation’s most vulnerable, including children with complex medical needs and disabilities like CVI (Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment).
How to make the call
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Tell them: VOTE NO on HR1 and the dangerous Medicaid cuts
What to say when you make the call
“I’m calling to urge Senator [Name] to oppose any legislation that cuts Medicaid without protecting children with complex disabilities, including those with CVI, and without safeguarding school-based Medicaid services. H.R.1 puts kids’ health, learning, and future at risk.”
What H.R.1 would do:
- Cut critical funding for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and Medicaid waivers
- Eliminate or reduce school-based Medicaid reimbursement, which funds nursing, OT/PT, speech therapy, AAC, behavioral support, and orientation & mobility services in public schools
- Add overwhelming red tape for families already in crisis
- Undermine states’ ability to support specialty providers and keep kids at home
- Force medically fragile children into institutions or hospitals instead of offering care at home and in schools
What H.R.1 does not include:
- No requirement that cuts come from fraud, waste, or administrative inefficiency
- No protections for children with rare or complex disabilities, including CVI
- No prioritization of healthy populations for shared cost savings
- No recognition of how this will affect school systems that rely on Medicaid to serve students with disabilities
What's at risk:
- Services that allow students with CVI, multi-sensory disabilities, or significant communication needs to access a free, appropriate public education (FAPE)
- Access to interveners, vision specialists, therapists, AAC, and specialized transportation, especially in underfunded school districts
- Support systems that allow families to keep their children at home and in inclusive settings
- Parents’ ability to stay employed, as caregiving demands skyrocket
- Long-term cost savings—these cuts will lead to higher institutional and emergency care costs down the line
What we need:
- Targeted, thoughtful reforms—not blunt cuts that harm disabled children
- Real protections for vulnerable communities, including those with CVI and complex communication needs
- Safeguards for Medicaid-funded services in public education
- Accountability from systems, not punishment of families