The Breakthrough
Year in Review and Survey
Written by DNWML Community Engagement Coordinator, Eliot Carter
Hello readers,
I have had many people this year tell me how helpful this year’s blog posts have been in understanding policy issues, and I am so grateful for your support! Before we begin today’s blog, I would appreciate it if you could fill out this brief survey. This will ask you about what we have done well and what we can do to make these blogs even more impactful. As always, if you have trouble with online surveys but want to give your opinion, you can call our front desk at 734-971-0277 and a staff member will help you by letting you give your answers on the phone.
Click here or paste the following link into your browser: https://forms.office.com/r/9w0x7zyqwE
Year in Review
It was clear to DNWML from January 2025 that this would be a chaotic year for policy. For us and many other nonprofits, the confusion began a week into the second Donald Trump presidency; this is when his office said they would freeze all the money the federal government spends through grants. Various White House staff would tell reporters that the “funding freeze” meant many different things depending on who was talking and when. Most of these differing answers mentioned that the White House wanted to make sure that the money coming from the federal government was aligned with the Executive Orders that the president had signed. But as a result, many organizations that use federal funds – from hospitals to domestic violence shelters to Head Start preschool programs – either weren’t getting paid or couldn’t use the government websites they used to track their payments. These nonprofits took legal action. A few days later, Judge John McConnell Jr. said that federal agencies could not withhold funds that had already been promised. Much of the funding resumed, but the Executive Orders that said that the government shouldn’t fund “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) remained.
This move showed that this president would use his power in way that past presidents rarely (if ever) had. But then it was onto the next move – the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). And then another… it feels like we have been in this cascade ever since. That is why this month, we will look back at past Breakthrough Blog posts to recap some disability policy issues from 2025. Here is a summary of what we have discussed this year and what has changed since each post.
Issue 1: The Future of Medicaid/Issue 3: Medicaid and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In the first piece, we mentioned that the Trump administration wanted to cut a total of $880 billion in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. Since then, the federal government has passed a new budget that affects Medicaid in several ways. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an office that studies the impacts of federal budgets, estimated that this budget would reduce Medicaid by $911 billion over the next 10 years [1]. These cuts come from a variety of places within the budget bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. It prevents states from using provider taxes to fund their Medicaid programs. It will also require people on Medicaid Expansion plans to prove they are working or doing community service every six months in order to keep their coverage. The estimate that the CBO came up with assumed that many people who would have to meet work requirements would lose Medicaid Expansion either by not being able to meet the requirements or by not doing the paperwork correctly.
DNWML made efforts to advocate against Medicaid cuts; we joined the Protect MI Care coalition to work alongside other nonprofits and members of our community to prevent Medicaid cuts from entering the budget bill. We met with staff from Senator Slotkin’s office about how these cuts would impact Michiganders with disabilities. When the federal government shut down in October, many Democratic Senators said it was to force other Senators to take back some of the Medicaid cuts in the budget. This ended up not being successful, and the Medicaid changes in the budget are going to take place over the next few years. In response, DNWML will be working with the State of Michigan and local organizations to make it easier for people to adapt to these changes. Because we don’t know all of the specific changes that states will have to make, our advice to the community right now is to gather documents like identification, proofs of benefits, and your usernames and passwords for MIBridges, SSA, and other online portals. Also make digital copies if you can; our Assistive Technology staff can help you with this!
Issue 2: Texas v. Kennedy and Section 504
The main focus of this post was the lawsuit that several state governors filed against the federal government about Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 says that any place that gets money from the federal government cannot discriminate against people with disabilities. At first, it looked like the governors were going to try to overturn all of Section 504, but then the case was changed to just overturn some adjustments that were made to the law in 2024. These changes direct states on how to provide Home and Community Based Services. This court case is still on hold. The Department of Health and Human Services says they will release a new report in early January [2].
The Call to Action in this post was about a change that the Department of Energy was trying to make to Section 504. The Department issued a rule saying that buildings that get federal money would not have to follow accessibility rules. This was very shocking to a lot of people because this had been the law for 50 years, and it was being changed without Congress’ approval. Even though many people sent in comments saying Section 504 should be protected, this change was not stopped – it was only delayed until September of this year. You can read another blogger’s account and reaction to the change here: https://wileyswalk.com/2025/10/01/rethinking-access-understanding-federal-policy-shift/ [3]
Issue 4: What is the “chilling effect?”
This blog post was not about one policy issue, though we did mention a few of them. The main point of the post was the “chilling effect,” which is when a policy change makes people more afraid to exercise their rights. One Executive Order we mentioned is called “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” This order says the United States should put unhoused people with mental disabilities in programs and institutions where they have less freedom than the Housing First programs that have become more popular over the last 10 years. It also says the Department of Justice can try to challenge court cases that don’t align with this Executive Order. The Executive Order is in effect, but we have not seen any reports of the Department of Justice trying to overturn anti-institutionalization court decisions.
Issue 5: A Brief History of HCBS in Michigan
This post was about Michigan’s past and how advocates worked to expand Home and Community Services (HCBS) for people with disabilities, so we didn’t mention any current policies. However, we will highlight one change that will be coming to Michigan soon – the MI Health Link program will end and be replaced with MI Coordinated Health. These programs provide health coverage for people who receive both Medicaid and Medicare. This change will happen on January 1, 2026, for people in Southwest Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, and Wayne County; people in the rest of the state will see the change happen on January 1, 2027 [4]. MI Health Link was a pilot program, meaning it was temporary, and MI Coordinated Health will be permanent.
Issue 6: Self Determination – What’s Next for Michigan?
This was our most recent blog post, and the Michigan legislature has not spent many days in session since it was published. We discussed several bills, so here is a quick recap: HBs 4632, 4634, and 4635 would create higher standards for someone to meet in order to become a guardian, such as getting a criminal background check and the opinion of the person who will be placed under guardianship. HB 4676 and 4677 would make it easier for someone to get a supported decision-making arrangement (or other alternatives to guardianship) approved by a court. These bills are still in committee, but having more Republican co-sponsors may help them in getting passed.
What’s Next
In November, we hosted a community Town Hall to recap parts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Our staff also held a panel discussion about how to prepare for benefit applications and redeterminations. Staff and consumers both appreciated the opportunity to communicate directly with each other. We look forward to holding more Town Hall-style events in 2026 to educate about and respond to new policy developments!
We will be taking other new approaches to advocacy in the new year, focusing on using technology and creativity to address challenges and reach new audiences. As stated earlier, we are also going to be working with Michigan state government and community partners to support the people who will be living with the effects of policies from Washington DC. Our Advocacy Team will continue to be a resource for those who want to raise awareness of the issues you face and navigate government systems. You can help us shape the future of these blog posts by filling out our reader survey.
Sources:
2 https://dredf.org/protect-504/
3 https://wileyswalk.com/2025/10/01/rethinking-access-understanding-federal-policy-shift/
4 https://mimultipayerinitiatives.org/upcoming-2026-transition-for-mihealthlink-dual-eligible-program/