VOICEOVER: Thabiso Rowan shares some thoughts about Medical Assistance reform.
THABISO ROWAN: Hi. My name is Thabiso Rowan. I am a male. I have African and European ancestry, and I use he, him, and his pronouns. I have black hair, caramel skin, brown eyes, and I use a wheelchair. I identify as a person with a disability.
I sustained a T9 through T11 spinal cord injury at age 25, 13 years ago and am paralyzed from the waist down. My life drastically changed, and I became more dependent on supports and services because our society and communities don’t always support physical and other disabilities.
I started having to pay for medical supplies just to go to the bathroom, including my catheter supplies. The cost for medical is so expensive that I became reliant on Medical Assistance. Because of my injury, I lost my job, home, car, and more. I had to start my life over again.
I went back to school and started a new career in disability services. School was no picnic either. Trying to find accessible education settings is another story for another day. Straight MA would have not allowed me to work because there are income and asset limits for the program.
Because I choose to work, I am able to qualify for Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities. Now, I still could not save more than $3,000. That is until the program was updated with legislation that reformed the program just last year.
Let’s face it. Saving for our future is extremely important to a person’s health. My health. Independence. And to be able to meaningfully contribute to my life instead of relying on systems for financial security.
Keeping people trapped in a cycle of poverty isn’t good for the systems, and it’s not good for people, for me either. Many of my friends have been saving for the years, contributing to their financial security. Just in the last year, I was able to start saving for retirement, my son’s college fund, and other ventures that are important to me. These programs, like MA, may not impact you, but they impact me and my family.
All I want to do is work, support my community and family, and live a comfortable life, which I think we can all agree on and aspire to. I live in Ramsey County. One extreme issue that I would like to address is the inefficiency of the county’s Human Services Department.
I have been denied medications and antibiotics while sick because of regular and reoccurring glitches in the system. I can’t tell you how many times me and many of my disabled friends and colleagues get kicked out of the system, even though I, we, pay premiums on time and in full.
It’s usual for me when I’m trying to reach out to Ramsey County Human Services for assistance to rectify the mistake the system made. Not my mistake that eight out of 10 times, on average, I get an automated message that they are busy and to call back later.
It’s usual that I don’t get a call back. Marginalized peoples, including elders, people with disabilities, and people of minority are more reliant on these programs. And when calling to get their food support, child support, and medications, they get an automated message to call back. Is this because we don’t matter?
I’m asking my legislators to please speak up and support us. Please protect those of us that need assistance to be able to support ourselves, our loved ones, and our lives. I may not be able to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail, or play soccer, or enjoy disk golf like I used to. But I still want to enjoy the things that give me meaning in life. Like having good health care, the opportunity to work, save money, and support my family, contribute to all my communities, my spiritual community, my disability community, my friends. So please don’t take away what I have left to live for.