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The Truth about the National Debt and Medicaid Eligibility

In discussions about the politics surrounding the care of disabled people, I see repeated references to the national debt and to the large numbers of undocumented people who are supposedly receiving Medicaid benefits through fraud. I hope to dispel some common misunderstandings surrounding these topics.

Chris Bucholz wrote an article for Cracked entitled “5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Government Spending.” The first misconception that he corrects is the notion that governments are required to pay off their debts. Bucholz points out that when a private citizen retires, they are living off of their savings, investments, and whatever else they did to prepare. It is much harder to do that if the citizen owes money, so it behooves a person to retire debt free. Since governments in stable nations don’t retire, they can continue to accumulate debt indefinitely as long as the interest is paid. Bucholz says that most of the debt the American government accumulated in World War II is still there. If that debt was as serious a problem as politicians are fond of claiming, they would have fixed it in the eighty years that have passed since then. The reason they haven’t is that the misunderstanding creates a useful boogeyman when conservative politicians need to justify cutting programs they do not like. If you want more detailed information on this topic, Bucholz does an excellent job of laying it out in his article. For our purposes, the takeaway is that no one needs to be kicked off of any government program because the national debt is a problem. It isn’t.

Regarding Medicaid, I examined the eligibility requirements and the paperwork necessary to apply for benefits in my state. Those safeguards alone make it incredibly unlikely that we have massive numbers of undocumented people receiving unjustified benefits. By definition, undocumented people don’t have the documents needed to apply. Additionally, benefit systems in the United States are adversarial, in that the assumption is that the applicant is NOT eligible for benefits. The burden of proving otherwise lies with the applicant. While the specific requirements vary by state, my state requires the applicant to submit documentation proving that they are eligible for any one of the following reasons: low income; over 65 years of age; blind; otherwise disabled; have a dependent or family member in a care facility; pregnant. On top of all this, the applicant must supply a social security number. Undocumented folk don’t have those. In my state, it is virtually impossible for an undocumented person to obtain Medicaid benefits.

Medicaid is a complicated issue, because it is both state and federally funded, and some states offer benefits to eligible people regardless of immigration status. Snopes says that undocumented people in states that allow them to access healthcare benefits are not committing fraud. This tends to deflate the federal government’s argument that they are defeating “waste and abuse” by cutting funding to states that offer healthcare to undocumented people. Even if they were, it isn’t federal money that is being misappropriated. According to factcheck.org, states that cover undocumented people do so using state money only, as federal law prohibits disbursement of Medicaid funds to undocumented folk. The undocumented won’t be affected by these cuts; the President can’t withhold federal money from people who weren’t receiving it to begin with. Contrary to the Trump Administration’s claims that they are protecting Medicaid for deserving citizens, it is those citizens who will lose coverage when the cuts take effect.

When Donald Trump was banned from Twitter during the pandemic, COVID misinformation declined thirty six percent. Coupled with the more than fifty thousand lies he told during his first administration and the false assertions he has made regarding his cuts to Medicaid, it would be wise for those of us in the disabled community to take what the President says with a grain of salt regarding the “help” he is giving us. #Disability #MentalHealth #Depression #PTSD #Suicide #Trauma

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I'm new here!

Hi, my name is 1AnxiousScotsman. I am here seeking assistance because I am in an impossible situation and there is no assistance for me in my county. I live in Cass county ND, in Casselton ND, part of Cass county. The Cass county housing authority last year in November held a city meeting for the tenants of their buildings and told us that they filed for HUD vouchers for us in May (2024) that they were (and still are) selling the properties in Casselton to "consulidate their finances so they can build a 175 unit building and stack everyone in there so that it's easier to maintain one big place instead of multiple places scattered all over". They said we were supposed to be getting letters once HUD approved our vouchers and the housing authority would offer us moving assistance, pay our application fees, security deposits and provide us a reference, as well as a check based on the unit size, 1bdrm units with 1 in Household gets $700.00 check, 2 or more bedrooms with 2 or more in household get $1200.00 plus kids add $50.00 extra for each kid. We were told that we would "definitely receive our letters well before your annual lease renewal period in May" . Many of my neighbors and I have continued to ask the housing authority for updates but they have begun stone walling us. Our annual lease renewal has come and we had no choice but to renew it or face homelessness. None of my neighbors and I have received any type of correspondence about moving assistance approval, not received checks or vouchers. I'm starting to get truly scared because I have no friends, no family no supports and a dozen of my neighbors have given up and moved out but I cannot afford to, I do not own my own vehicle, I have two service animals, and I contacted 211 who told me the only disability advocacy agencies in Cass county are the three that quit working with me using an unfair excuse that because I live in Casselton it's to difficult to schedule adaquate time with their disability advocates around their other clients schedules so they stopped working with me. They are: community connect, community options, and recovery works LLC. Everyone knows the salvation army has billions of dollars but when I contacted them they asserted the claim that" they had no available funds to assist at this time". I contacted caothlic charities who told me " we don't have programs that support that far out of Fargo at this time". Casselton is a suburb of West Fargo but is 30 minutes outside West Fargo. It is part of Cass county which is North, south, East and West Fargo and parts of Morehead, as it was explained to me. I have filled out dozens of housing authority applications all over the US through the HUD website for public housing wait lists and only been placed on 5 though they are between 5-10 year waiting. Every day I wake up I'm terrified that this will be the day the housing authority knocks on my door and I become homeless. Loosing my service animals and belongings. I need help.

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Spirituality in wellness spaces

Hi.

I’ve been thinking about how to bring this up here because I am feeling a little alone in this mindset and I am not sure how others who don’t mention religion in posts feel.

I am not affiliated with any specific religion, I also am not an atheist. I didn’t grow up with religion in my home, but enjoyed learning about it. I went to catholic universities; not because they were catholic, but because they offered my programs and I liked the universities. When people say they will pray for me, I usually appreciate it. In my head, it’s similar to when I tell people I will think about them/hope for them. It shows that you are holding space in your head for another person- whether someone does a religious ritual or a personal one (loving kindness mantras are kind of what I do).

However, lately religion has been in the news a lot more. It’s hard when a religious majority in a country where religion is supposed to be separate from laws is trying to incorporate religion into public schools or making laws about my body. It’s hard when I need action but I am met with prayers. It’s hard when people tell me that God will have my back and things will work out when I know that a miracle isn’t going to happen and I have to take action. When unhoused, I did not become housed by praying; I became housed because I fought for my life and advocated for myself. Sometimes it’s hard to talk on here because of this.

It feels uncomfortable to post this because I may be in the minority here. I just really don’t know. Usually these comments don’t bother me, but I think the push of values like pro-life and religion in our public schools has been wearing on me. I also know there are people who have experienced religious trauma. I know that it makes me uncomfortable when I vent and I am met with people talking about a God I don’t necessarily connect with. I know that prayers are fine for me, but comments about things being in God’s hands are not helpful because I have had to fight for so much of my basic needs.

Again, this isn’t an anti-religion post. I am so glad that people have faith in and find comfort in religion. I’m curious, though, if anyone else has felt this way.

Thank you in advance!

#MentalHealth #Agoraphobia #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #PanicDisorder #ChronicVestibularMigraine #Migraine #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #ADHD

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Conquering the Water

I've always loved being in the water. Being immersed in water helps my muscles relax and allows me to move my body in ways that are far more strenuous on land.

I've spent years doing various Aqua therapy programs, which have helped improve my mobility in many ways. One day, as I was staring out at a friend’s pool, admiring it, I decided I wanted to conquer the pool in a way I never had before – one hundred laps, there and back. I knew it would be a challenge and I could not accomplish such a feat on the first try, but that was okay. I had devoted the summer of 2013 to the challenge.

I committed to starting with five laps, there and back. I took a deep breath as I entered the water. I completed the five laps and kept going. Five turned into ten. Then ten turned into fifteen.

As I continued swimming, I assessed my body and pushed for just a few more laps. Exhausted, I made it to eighteen laps on my first swim of the season.

After reaching eighteen laps, I set a new goal of twenty-five. Again, I took to the water and swam with my whole heart. My goal came and went as I pushed myself harder. Thirty-eight, thirty-nine… forty laps! Once again, I had exceeded the goal I set for myself. I felt amazing.

My friends and family supported my goal by encouraging me to continue to push myself in healthy ways. They encouraged balanced nutrition, drinking plenty of water, and reapplying sunscreen as needed. They cheered me on throughout the process, giving me greater strength and determination to succeed in my goal.

As my journey to reach one hundred laps continued, I let go of everyone else’s opinions of how I should be swimming and listened to my body’s intuition as it guided me along each stroke of each lap. It didn't matter that I didn't use the "perfect form" or that I used multiple strokes to get to the end of the pool. Each lap built upon the last and I gained greater strength and stamina.

After months of practice the day arrived: I was finally going to conquer this goal. One lap after the last, in succession, I approached my goal with excitement. Ninety-eight… ninety-nine… one hundred!

What seemed to be an impossible goal not only became possible with great support and encouragement from people in my life, it was met with exhilaration that spilled over into each area of my life. I conquered the water and continue to conquer living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. #EhlersDanlosSyndrome

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Can Anticipatory Anxiety In Fear Of Flying Be Resolved?

The short answer is: Yes.

The longer answer is: Yes, however resolving it doesn't generally happen the way people think it should.

Resolving Anticipatory Anxiety Takes a Different Approach

People often seek me out to work on overcoming fear of flying because they've heard from others or read about the way I work. Over many years of practice, I've interestingly had some people relay to me that they were told by other experts that it's not possible to overcome anticipatory anxiety.

It is of great curiosity to me that anyone who offers specialized help in fear of flying would believe that anticipatory anxiety can't be overcome. (Though, I will also say that it does validate the reason I created my approach many years ago. The way professionals, including other therapists, coaches, and even pilots and airlines have approached the issue over time has been largely inadequate.) I have consistently in my practice seen people come through the other end of anticipatory anxiety. I've also seen a large number of people who not only have become settled with flying, but who have actually become excited by flying and now look for opportunities to travel more -- excitedly anticipating their trips as they grow closer rather than fearing or dreading them. Anticipatory anxiety is not a hopeless issue. It just isn't resolved the way people tend to imagine it should be.

What Do Other Approaches Miss?

Exposure Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

If you've read my articles previously, you've probably read about my approaches with normalization, underlying causes, emotional regulation, and passenger flying education as the big four components that are woven together to help overcome fear of flying. When it comes to anticipatory anxiety, there is a lot happening that greatly differs from one person to the next, based on their own experiences and histories, emotionally, relationally, contextually, and more. While *ideally* simply normalizing flying and doing the related exercises would take care of anticipatory anxiety, when there is more going on in the underlying causes area, normalization can actually become blocked. This means no matter how much you may fly, or how much you work on something like exposure therapy, it can't break through or ease your anxiety. (It's also not easily possible to do exposure therapy with flying because of the limits of access to planes and how this process would need to be handled). This is one of the reasons why cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) isn't as effective as one would hope for fear of flying, and especially not for anticipatory anxiety. Behavioral approaches can be helpful with certain elements of flying at times, but these tend to only goes so far.

Pilots and Airline Programs

Another approach that people often try is seeking out pilots or airline sponsored programs to try to overcome their anticipatory anxiety and dread leading up to flying. Ultimately, these kind of approaches generally aim to teach you about flying, hoping you'll learn why you shouldn't be scared of flying. The idea is that if you know how flying works, then you won't be scared anymore. While the intentions are good, when is the last time you've experienced anxiety or panic and it actually worked when someone responded with all the reasons you shouldn't be scared?

I know pilots are well-meaning and intending to help, but if you're looking for help with fear of flying, my first suggestion wouldn't be to go to a pilot. Pilots are experts in flying the plane and in aviation. They aren't experts mental health, emotional processes, or in the way deeper emotions tend to become activated (or calmed), and how complex it can be to help people find their way through tremendous fear, panic, and anxiety. While pilots have tremendous knowledge and ability in the world of flying planes and in aviation, it is very rare that *knowing* about how flying works calms panic and anxiety more than a little bit.

You may be wondering how I know that the above methods are generally less helpful. The answer is pretty simple: Many people over time come to me after trying all of these different approaches still feeling anxious about flying.

Anticipatory Anxiety Isn't Rationally-Based

Anticipatory anxiety doesn't function in the rational brain. When people are in rational mode, the brain is in a very different state than when in panic, fear, and anxiety mode. More knowledge isn't going to do much to relieve the panic state. Fear of flying tends to push people into an anxiety and panic state that can't be easily reasoned with once it's activated.

When you're scared, rational thought essentially shuts down. You're just looking for safety at this point as if you're in imminent danger. Anticipatory anxiety can feel for many people like something between a low-grade and a full on panic attack for periods of time leading up to a flight, feeling as if you're preparing to walk into danger (both in mind and in body). For many, this starts the moment the ticket is purchased and the commitment is made. Though many others may not start to feel it until a month or less before the flight.

Anticipatory anxiety, believe it or not, can also often be about more than only the flight. The flight can be the catalyst that brings all of the vulnerability forward -- and it can of course be about the flight, as well. However, I have seen a significant number of people who are calm and grounded during flights with little to no anxiety at all, even on turbulent flights, who are still terrified leading up to every flight anyway.

Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety and Fear of Flying

Anticipatory anxiety brings added layers that are different for each person (which is why the way I work with this issue is so personalized in bringing the components together). If you're trying to overcome anticipatory anxiety by focusing solely on the flight itself, it's likely not going to help you feel much better if what's causing the anticipatory anxiety is stemming from deeper anxieties and vulnerabilities that are tapped into by the flight. Anticipatory anxiety lives and breathes in the stored emotions that builds from experiences over time. When faced with an environment like flying, where it can tap into people's greatest vulnerabilities, this is when anticipatory anxiety wakes up the sleeping demons.

If you are struggling with anticipatory anxiety, fear of flying, or anxiety in general, it is not hopeless.

#fearofflying #Anxiety #PanicAttacks #Phobia #phobias #Anticipatoryanxiety

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Life’s going well

The American poet T. S. Eliot once wrote “April is the cruelest month,” and at least for me that always ringed true. April was the month that I always landed in the psych ward- ive landed there nore times in April than any other month. But not for a year :)
I am happy to say that I feel more stable than ever on my medication regiment now. My stability has contributed to me being able to have multiple part time jobs and even aspire to going back to school potentially to advance to a more permanent career. In addition to this,
I have also started testosterone replacement therapy and can say that I feel more confident and happier in my own skin.

Of course I did have to remove a few things from my life - addiction to marijuana, some patterns of negative thinking, medications that no longer served me, removing people who were bad for my mental health to make room for all that I deserve. My spirituality has also increased for which I am grateful to 12 step programs. All in all I’m very satisfied and happy with my life these days.

I never thought I’d be so happy much less being who I am. I am eternally grateful to modern medicine for allowing me to be the individual I am today. Cheers my friends and happy May!

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Stuck

Limiting what I say to prevent triggering anyone as best as I can. I am more or less stuck in life. No mater how hard I try I can not get a job. I’ve tried for more than a decade now. I have limited support from family(mainly food and a roof) & was not put into highschool. As a kid (15-16) I tried getting my birth certificate from them so I could join programs to help me work but was told to wait until I finished highschool. I completed applications throughout that time on my own. When I was 20 or 21 they put me in online highschool with enough time left for me to pass only if I completed multiple years each year for half a year before stopping it after noticing I couldn’t do it unassisted even though they knew I needed assistance. They then proceeded to take me to get my ged however refused to take me for the final test 3/4 completed. I’ve repeatedly applied for the vast majority of jobs in my area and have been denied throughout this time. In my free time I primarily talked in support groups, peer to peer support chats, and the non emergency crisis chat to vent, hope to find some resource to help with the situation. I checked with all of the resources in my area to see if I was applicable and aparently I’m not. 28 going on 29, no work experience, money, reliable transportation. Majority of services in the area get denied due to household income. I’ve got my id, social security card, no birth certificate, no papers that mention my disability, a old phone with cell service.
General location: Middleburg Fl

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I'm new here!

Hi, my name is MOElovealways. I'm here because I live with Mast Cell Activation Disorder, Connective Tissue Disease/EDS, POTS, TMJ, chronic pain, complex headache disorder, neck/spinal instability and have been disabled since 2014. I have knocked at death's door several times and barely survived CACS surgery (celiac artery compression syndrome) and am just now able to start reaching out to other people who understand what I have been and continue to endure. I am terrified by everything happening in 2025 politics, public policies, healthcare, research, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Disability programs.

#MightyTogether #Migraine #Anxiety #Depression #Fibromyalgia

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