Dear Editor,
I am a parent of a disabled adult. My family has lived in Mahopac for 18 years. My daughter Heather attended the Mahopac Falls program for students with autism and graduated from the AIIM program at Southern Westchester BOCES. Heather is currently 22 years old, living at home, and has a full-time community habilitation aide who is fully funded through Medicaid and New York State’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). Heather’s com-hab is with her while my husband and I are at work, continuing to teach her the life skills she practiced at school. They go on trips to the library, grocery store, bowling, farm, swimming lessons, and mall. For our current lifestyle, this has been incredibly successful. It is a relief as parents of an adult with severe disabilities that there is and will continue to be funding and resources to provide Heather with a happy, safe, fulfilled adulthood as my husband and I near retirement age.
All of this is threatened by Project 2025, the blueprint for government written by the Heritage Foundation, and backed by many conservatives. Page 466 of Project 2025 calls to convert federal Medicaid funding to block grants, which would cap federal funding to states at a set amount rather than a percentage. Once this cap is met, federal funding is gone. There would be time limits on Medicaid coverage and lifetime caps on benefits. Project 2025 would impose more red tape and make it harder for eligible individuals and families to apply for, enroll in, and renew their Medicaid coverage. Under Project 2025, my daughter Heather could have her com-hab funding cut or eliminated completely.
If you have a disabled child of any age, if you work with disabled children, if you have a relative or friend who is disabled, Project 2025 and the conservative plan should concern you. Please consider this when you vote in November.
Denise Milmerstadt
Mahopac, NY
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