Crip News v.192

Blood red tape (news analysis), questions for employers, calls, and events.

A heads up: Today I’m publishing some commentary in lieu of the usual NEWS section. The following section might press on some tender points. If you can’t risk that right now, skip to the rest of the issue starting with CALLS. -kg

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NEWS ANALYSIS: Blood Red Tape

The budget bill that became US law on July 4, 2025 is a killer. And while it will take some time to understand the scope of its devastating effects, we already know this: many aspects of its brutality will stem from the weaponization of bureaucracy.

The paperwork that goes into the administration of so-called safety net programs has long been an interpretive battleground. We see this even in the history of the term “safety net program” itself. It was popularized by Reagan in his first address to Congress in 1981 as a narrowed redefinition of what he called “true” or “real need.” Now, intentionally complicated bureaucracies will significantly accelerate already-profound and pervasive need that lawmakers refuse to acknowledge.

Illustration by Rebecca Chew/The New York Times.

Around 30,000 people died while waiting on a determination of their disability benefits in 2023. This figure is estimated to increase to 67,000 this year - and that doesn’t reflect the changes in the budget bill that are going into effect right now.

Some of the most pernicious aspects of the bill, like work requirements for Medicaid, have been strategically delayed until after the 2026 mid-term elections. Unless they are reversed, documentation around employment will be crucial in helping people remain eligible for life-saving programs.

This is particularly important for disabled people who get healthcare through Medicaid expansion, and not through disability-related eligibility. When Arkansas implemented work requirements in 2018, a majority (55%) of the state’s disabled population (aged 19 - 64) did not get Medicaid because of their disability. And the disability-specific safeguards against coverage loss required…more complex paperwork, which is why they worked for so few people. (Only 577 people, for example, got a “good cause” exemption.)

TL;DR

A lot of disabled people become subject to work-related red tape that threatens their access to Medicaid, especially because proving what counts as “work” is often at odds with the realities of working while disabled.

Employers: Get Ready

Now is the time for employers to prepare. And to move in solidarity to protect those who are effectively banned from getting a job while meeting their basic needs.

Far too often, a professionalized class of salaried (W2) workers maintains policies and etiquettes that bar poor and disabled people from joining their work, even in nonprofit worlds where poor and disabled people are among those the organization is meant to serve. Leadership and staff education is a modest first move.

If you are an employer, you might start asking yourself…

• Do you know what Medicaid work requirements will look like?

• And which groups of people are most likely to be negatively impacted by these requirements?

• Do you know the income and asset limits associated with the most commonly used public benefit programs in your area?

• Do you know what a benefits cliff is?

• Do you know what an ABLE account is?

• Do you know how to support an employee in depositing their paycheck into an ABLE account?

• Do you know what the SSDI “trial work period” is?

• Do you know if your health insurance policy includes “durable medical equipment” coverage?

• Do you know how to have a conversation about workplace accommodations?

• Do you know some of the lesser-known examples of workplace accommodations that you could be providing?

When organizations don’t have a good sense of these kinds of topics, it often hollows out well-intentioned calls to hire disabled people as a form of systems change. If you work for an organization that employs people, you can turn despair into action now.

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CALLS

• Organizers are urgently raising funds for a community member who is facing eviction. Please donate now.

• Help stop the closure of NYC’s last PCR Covid testing site. Email the acting commissioner, leave a review on Google, and submit a complaint.

• Strange Fox Fighting Arts, a disabled- and trans-run and -centered martial arts space, is urgently seeking a lawyer who works on Maryland (commercial) tenant law, constructive eviction, illegal eviction, and/or safety code violations.

• The People’s CDC is seeking letter-writing support for a campaign to Ensure Universal Access to COVID Vaccines and Hold RFK Jr. Accountable.

• Gaming 4 EveryBODY is raising funds to improve accessibility in tabletop roleplaying games for disabled gamers.

• AXIS Dance Company is hiring a Company Dancer. Apply by July 26.

• The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is hiring a Director of its Disability and Learning Resource Center.

• AAPD is hiring a Technology Policy Associate and an Internship Program Manager.

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EVENTS

• Disability Dally: Virtual Dilly Dally
  Saturday, July 19, 6 - 10:30pm ET, on Discord
  Disabled folks and allies in Chicago/the surrounding areas are invited to a screening of the movie “Connection | Isolation” from award-winning filmmaker G Chesler, who will join before the movie for an intro. This very relevant film witnesses trans lives during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recently won the top prize at the Divine Queer Film Festival in Torino, Italy. There will also be a Disability Wrath Open Mic hosted by Rise of Riotous Roots, tarot readings with Jade T. Perry, astrology readings with Inbal, Jackbox games, a fundraiser dance party with DJ Bryce Love, a care web workshop with cherry, and more.

• Life After in Theaters
  Starting Friday, July 18 at Film Forum (NYC) before a national tour
  A national theatrical run of Reid Davenport’s documentary Life After (Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2025) begins this week, with a packed schedule of Q&As.

• Revolutionary Bodies: Disability, Race, and Resistance
  Friday, July 18, 4 - 5pm ET, on Zoom and in-person at the Young Democrats of America Philly Conference
  Join the Black and Disability Caucuses at #YDAPhilly for a panel featuring AJ Link and Dr.Sami Schalk, moderated by Amber Sherman and Leslie Templeton.

• RestFest: July Crip Arts Gathering
  Sunday, July 20, 2:30 - 4:30pm ET, on Zoom
  Crip Arts Gatherings are monthly virtual events during which our community reconnects or meets for the first time fellow Disabled, Deaf, chronically ill, Neurodivergent, mentally ill, and/or mad folks, has the opportunity to make art, and share our creations with one another in a relaxed, warm, supportive environment. Facilitated by QueerCrip, mad, AuDHD artist-filmmaker & RestFest founder Bec Miriam.

• AIDS Activist Legacies
  Saturday, July 19 · 4 - 6pm ET, in-person at MoMA PS1 Bookstore (Long Island City, NYC)
  Please join for a conversation by Visual AIDS presented in tandem with Love Rules: The Harm Reduction Archives of Heather Edney and Richard Berkowitz, Visual AIDS' current exhibition at MoMA PS1. Richard Berkowitz will be joined by Linda H Scruggs and Ivy Kwan Arce.

• Unlearning Ableism: Disability in the Age of Social Media
  Thursday, July 17, 1pm ET, on Zoom
  In celebration of Disability Pride Month, the National Organization on Disability is sitting down with a panel of disability influencers, activists, and personalities to discuss what it means to be truly inclusive, combat ableism, and the role mental health plays in online advocacy. Featuring Cole & Charisma Sydnor, Catarina Rivera, and moderated by Paulina Romero.

• Backstage Access
  Saturday, July 19, 4 - 8pm CT, in-person at Owenwood Neighbor Space (East Dallas) or online
  Backstage Access is a celebration of disabled and neurodivergent artists in the Dallas area. This event will showcase 10 performing artists and 10 visual artists. The gallery will be open from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, with performances scheduled from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. This event is open to disabled and neurodivergent artists of all ages, experience levels, and art forms. Open to the public for anyone who enjoys arts!

• Disability Pride, Disability Joy Exists: A Community Art Making Workshop
  [New venue & date]

  Saturday, July 19, 10:30am - 12pm ET, in-person at the New York Botanical Gardens (the Bronx, NYC)

  Join Accessible Travel NYC for a joyful, creative workshop that blends art, learning, and reflection through the lens of disability pride and inclusion. Set in the beauty of the Garden, this interactive session welcomes disabled people, families, friends, and allies to explore disability as identity, expression, and empowerment—through art. Participants will choose from a wide variety of accessible, colorful materials—heavy stock paper, rocks, stickers, markers, dot markers, waxy sticks, and more—to create pieces that reflect emotions like grief, pride, joy, and hope.