By skyforbes 
I didn’t vote for this.
I didn’t vote for a country that sees Medicaid as optional. I didn’t vote for a system that decides some lives are too expensive. I definitely didn’t vote for leaders who sleep easy while people like me lie awake wondering how the hell we’ll survive.
But here I am. Terrified. Exhausted. Furious.
I’m a full-time caregiver. My son is disabled. We both depend on Medicaid — not as a convenience, not as a “handout,” but as a lifeline. His therapies? Covered. His medications? Covered. My medication, the one that literally keeps my heart from failing? It’s over $500 out of pocket without Medicaid.
That’s a month. Not a year. Not negotiable.
Do you know what it feels like to realize a political decision might kill you?
To understand that the people with pens in their hands don’t know your name, your story, or your child, but they’ll gladly sign away your care because it “balances a budget”?
This isn’t about being dramatic. It’s about being desperate.
When people ask why I’m angry, why I’m outspoken, why I keep writing when it puts tension in my home and stress in my life — this is why. Because if I don’t tell our story, who will?
They need to know:
- That my son’s future isn’t a partisan issue.
- That healthcare isn’t optional for the chronically ill and disabled.
- Cutting Medicaid to save money is like burning your house down because the heating bill is high.
I’ve called my senators. I’ve signed petitions. I’ve cried in frustration, knowing none of it may matter. But I won’t stop screaming because silence doesn’t save anyone.
And if you’re reading this and thinking, “Well, maybe it won’t affect me…”
Let me lovingly suggest: not yet. Because illness doesn’t ask about your voting record. Disability doesn’t care about your tax bracket.
And when your day comes — when the system turns its back on you — you’ll wish someone had screamed louder.
So here I am.
Screaming.
Because Medicaid isn’t charity.
It’s oxygen.
And right now, they’re trying to take it away.
If this made your blood boil just a little, good. Share it. Comment. Let your representatives know you’re watching. And if you want to keep hearing from someone who refuses to be quiet about it all, follow me here on Medium. Some things will always be free to read. Some are behind a paywall. All of it is honest.
Because the fight? It’s not over.