The Contradiction at the Heart of Disability in America

I’m an actor. I also use a motorized wheelchair and a ventilator, and both of them run on Medicaid. The machine that pushes air into my lungs, the chair that moves me across a room, and the aide who gets me out of bed so I can do my job and be on television are all paid for by Medicaid. Without that coverage, I wouldn’t have a career. Instead, I would have a massive life crisis. I’ve spent this year in a split-screen. On one side, I’ve had the best professional run of my life. On the other, a law that’s starting to take shape is threatening to make people like me suffer and disappear. That contradiction ultimately comes down to how much our country believes a disabled person is worth.On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. By the Congressional Budget Office’s own accounting, its Medicaid provisions cut around $1 trillion in federal spending over a decade, and will leave an estimated 7.5 million more people uninsured by 2034. Count the rest of the law’s health provisions, and the coverage loss climbs to an estimated 10 million. The Center for American Progress notes the spending cuts almost exactly match the law’s other half: about $1 trillion ...