Opinion: Dear John James, Medicaid Is a lifeline. Please don’t let my family down

One Michigan mom wants Rep. John James to consider families like hers before cutting Medicaid benefits.

Last month, my family traveled to D.C. to advocate for my six-year-old son George. He was born with Down Syndrome and relies on Medicaid for his care. While at the Capitol, I wore my most beloved shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “advocate like a mother.” That’s what I went to Washington to do. 

While on Capitol Hill, I visited the office of my congressman, Rep. John James (R—Michigan), who voted alongside the GOP for the budget bill that will cut funding for Medicaid. This safety net provides healthcare for my son alongside 24% of James’s constituents. If the bill is passed, our family and 20,000 others in his district would lose healthcare. 

While there, a staffer failed to give me a clear answer about where James stands on cuts to Medicaid. That showed me just how little regard James can offer our family and his other constituents who rely on the program. He was elected to fight for us and I’d like to see him do it.

After stopping by his office, we went to the Energy & Commerce Committee hearing room to watch Representatives debate this budget bill that would have catastrophic effects on our family and so many others. 

In the committee room, after Representative Dingell shared our family’s story, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R—Texas) responded by falsely reassuring us that George’s access to services won’t be cut. 

How dare he invoke my son’s experience and lie to his face. Representatives like James, Crenshaw, and the rest of their colleagues who voted yes on this bad bill are working day and night to strip away George’s access to essential healthcare and I refuse to let them get away with it. 

This is our story, shared by Dingell:

Our son, George, is six and has Down Syndrome. We adopted him at 3 weeks old. Losing Medicaid would cripple our family, absolutely destroy us. We’ve been very lucky until now because of Medicaid. It’s been very instrumental for our family’s ability to survive. My husband and I both primarily do gig work, both employed full time but we don’t have workplace insurance. It’s not super reliable for the kinds of jobs we do so we have marketplace insurance. It’s a huge fear that we’d lose Medicaid because it’s necessary for our family’s lives.

The disability world, our community is really worried about cuts to Medicaid. The general narrative right now is one of terror.

It’s a death sentence to cut Medicaid. It’s intrinsically and undeniably tied to disability rights and justice in our country. If we’re not serving our most vulnerable children, what are we even doing as a country? You’re leaving families with no options and putting us in an impossible position. It’s so obvious that they don’t care about disabled people or poor people.”

My son and all of James’s constituents deserve access to the quality life-saving healthcare that Medicaid provides. It’s his duty to protect our community. 

Rep. John James, it is up to you to fight for my family and countless others in your district by voting no on the reconciliation bill and protect Medicaid for the future of families like mine. I want you and your colleagues in the House and Senate to look in someone like George’s face and tell him that cutting his Medicaid is a “big, beautiful” decision. I won’t give up until Medicaid is protected and I’m going to keep fighting like a mother for George and millions of others who need Medicaid.

Related: WATCH: Elissa Slotkin slams Trump-backed cuts to Medicaid