Medicaid Advocacy and Education Toolkit
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BACKGROUND:
Medicaid provides individuals with disabilities with access to critical supports and services. In addition, Medicaid is an economic driver for our communities and represents a significant funding source for Easterseals to deliver quality home and community-based services.
OPPORTUNITY:
Members of Congress will be active in their home states and districts between now and Election Day through 8 weeks of congressional recess periods. This is an opportunity to educate your Congressional Delegation about the impact of Medicaid on your clients, affiliate, and community.
WHY NOW:
Medicaid cuts jeopardize Easterseals’ ability to provide essential services to people with disabilities. A Medicaid funding cut and cap proposal was recently included in the President’s fiscal year 2019 budget request (Feb. 2018). Threats to Medicaid funding aren’t going away! Now is the time to educate Members of Congress about the importance of Medicaid to our clients, affiliate, and communities. The Medicaid Advocacy and Education Toolkit will assist you in your education and outreach efforts!
For advocacy questions or assistance, please contact Maynard Friesz (mfriesz@easterseals.com) or Jim Adams (jadams@easterseals.com) or call the Office of Public Affairs at 202-347-3066.
For questions or additional resources around content and social media, please contact Yolanda Green (ygreen@easterseals.com).
Congressional Site Visit Resources
Materials to assist in your efforts to invite Members of Congress to visit your affiliate and Medicaid-funded services between now and Election Day.
Site Visit Resources
Twitter Posts for Congressional Site Visits
NOTE: The following tweets must be customized. Do NOT copy and paste as is.
Looking forward to hosting @[Senator/Representative] to showcase Easterseals Medicaid services and the impact these supports are having in [Name of Community] Learn More: http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
.@[Senator/Representative ] meets with [Easterseals affiliate] staff and clients on impact of Medicaid #NoCutsNoCaps [attach photo]
Thank you to @[Senator/Representative ] for visiting [Easterseals affiliate] to see and learn about #Medicaid’s amazing impact and why it is important to #ProtectMedicaid. Learn More: http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
Educational Social Media Resources
Social media products and graphics you can use between now and election day to promote Medicaid and educate the general public about the program’s impact.
Educational Twitter Posts
People with #disabilities are assisted by Medicaid services. Any attempt to cut funding for Medicaid will hurt our communities. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
#Medicaid cuts impact Easterseals and other #disability service providers. We must make sure there are no cuts or caps to Medicaid: http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
Budget experts point out the increasing importance of #Medicaid’s long-term-care as millions of baby boomers age. Learn more about Medicaid’s impact. http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
A cut to federal funding of essential community services that #Medicaid provides will negatively impact the health and independence of people with #disabilities. http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
Why would cuts to #Medicaid risk essential health benefits for people with #disabilities? http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care and often the sole source of health care for people with #disabilities. Here’s why Medicaid should be protected. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
Educational Facebook Posts
Early intervention, speech therapy and much more are all #Medicaid-funded services . Medicaid cuts will limit access to these services for people with disabilities. Alternative options are scarce. Spread the word. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
Easterseals partners locally with our state’s Medicaid agency to provide home and community-based services to eligible individuals with disabilities. Past Medicaid cuts have resulted in programs closing and services ending across the country. More Medicaid funding cuts will further limit access to essential services for people with disabilities. http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
11 million people with disabilities access essential services and community supports through Medicaid , representing almost 40% of total Medicaid spending. Other Medicaid investments are for services that benefit older adults and children. (kff.org) These stories show the impact. http://bit.ly/2mWqTcA
Educational: For Personal Pages and Accounts
For Facebook
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care and often the sole source of health care for people with #disabilities. Many of Easterseals services are Medicaid-funded. We have to make sure we protect Medicaid from proposals aiming to cut this funding for millions of people with disabilities. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
For Twitter
Cuts to #Medicaid will limit access to Easterseals #disability programs. I work for Easterseals. Help us educate on why Medicaid cuts are harmful to people with disabilities. http://bit.ly/2mWqTcA
Help protect health services: Medicaid impacts millions of people with disabilities and many Medicaid programs have already shut down due to cuts. People with disabilities would struggle to access services if Medicaid is further cut. http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Advocacy Social Media Resources
Social media messaging and graphics you can use to educate the general public about Medicaid funding threats and to urge lawmakers to stop proposals that would cut and cap Medicaid.
Advocacy Twitter Posts
The proposed federal budget for 2019 aims to repeal the ACA and end #Medicaid as we know it. Here’s how this would impact people with #disabilities. http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Do you know what #Medicaid per capita caps (as proposed in the President’s 2019 #budget proposal) would mean for #disability services? http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Our #Medicaid-funded services help kids with #autism improve verbal & social skills. A recent federal budget proposal threatens access to these supports. http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
The President’s 2019 budget proposal includes cuts to Medicaid. Further cuts to Medicaid will leave some Easterseals service providers with no choice but to end programs. #NoCutsNoCaps http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Early intervention therapy, speech therapy, and clinical social work services are just some of the #disability programs supported through Medicaid. Access to these services for people with #disabilities will be limited with Medicaid cuts. #NoCutsNoCaps http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
[DON’T COPY AND PASTE. THIS MUST BE CUSTOMIZED]
We are asking @[Senator 1 ] & @[Senator 2 if applicable] to protect Medicaid by opposing Medicaid cuts and caps. Here’s why: http://bit.ly/2HaIjvj
Advocacy Facebook Posts
Early intervention, speech therapy and much more are all Medicaid-funded services . Medicaid cuts will limit access to these services for people with disabilities. Help stop proposals (like the President’s 2019 budget) that threatens Medicaid. Spread the word. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
We are asking our Congressional representatives to commit to protect Medicaid. We ask that they help stop any cuts or caps that would negatively impact the lives of people with disabilities, children and older adults. Here’s why.
http://bit.ly/2nSu7wb
The proposed federal budget for 2019 aims to repeal the ACA and end #Medicaid as we know it. Here’s how this would impact people with #disabilities.
http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Medicaid-funded Easterseals services help kids with autism improve verbal and social skills. Access to these services is threatened under a 2019 federal budget proposal. Tell your representatives to protect Medicaid. http://bit.ly/2nZ5QpA
Advocacy: For Personal Pages and Accounts
For Facebook
As some of you know, I’m a big supporter of Easterseals. What you might not know is that Medicaid is vital to provide Easterseals services for people with disabilities. The President’s 2019 federal budget proposal threatens access to Medicaid services. Here are just some of the people we serve that would be impacted if Medicaid funding is cut. http://bit.ly/2mWqTcA
I work for Easterseals. Medicaid helps fund critical services Easterseals provides to individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, these Medicaid services are under threat in the President’s 2019 federal budget. Here’s how it could impact Easterseals and our ability to deliver quality services for people with disabilities: http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
For Twitter
I work for #Easterseals & some may not know that Medicaid funds many of our services. It is also the sole source of #healthcare for millions of people with #disabilities. This is why it is so important to stop proposals (like the President’s 2019 budget proposals) that cut Medicaid http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
If #Medicaid is cut, as proposed in the President’s 2019 federal budget, millions of lives will be affected. http://bit.ly/2Ha0pxn
Advocacy: Facts & CTA Social Media Graphics
Content Listings for Sharing
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- Easterseals General Statement on Threats to Health Care
- 2019 Federal Budget Statement
- Protecting Medicaid Talking Points
- Blog Post: Who loses out if Medicaid is cut
- Blog Post: Medicaid is my lifeline
- Additional talking points to oppose cuts and caps to Medicaid
- Mediciad Fact Sheet
- Mediciad Stories from Easterseals constituents
Rick Fleetwood
This is a wonderful testament what one can do when they want to! Love everything about your advocacy kit! I found it easy, comprehensive, helpful and well thought out. My name is Rick Fleetwood and I am the CEO of Snell Prosthetic and Orthotic. I also serve as the National PAC Chair for the American Orthotic Prosthetic Association. Also, I proudly serve on the local BOD for Easterseals Arkansas and just as proudly for the National BOD for Easterseals. Congrats on a great job. I have one question, can this also be used for the alert in case of immediate need to contact your elected representative. In other words, a national alert in that it was imperative for all affiliates to contact their representative in a state or national setting?
You have so much good info hear and hope it is being used by many. Is their a way that National has a list on who all is or is not. If not, begin a campaign to educated that we all be on the same page? I believe in the near future there will be things/issues that it will be very important for us to show our concern and educate the full ramifications that will come from such actions. Thanks for saring!!
Yolanda Green
Hi Rick,
Thank you for the feedback! When it comes for national alerts, depending on what it is, we may have separate messaging that would speak to the specific situation. In that case, we will notify affiliates about new content. It is just as likely that the content in this toolkit would be completely relevant and can be used for any immediate contact with a representative. Either way, we will make sure affiliates are well informed of the strategy and how to execute that strategy so that we are all on the same page. The purpose of this toolkit is to be ahead of some of the issues that you’ve rightly pointed out, and can be seen a baseline for a quick response as a network.