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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-26 Correspondence - Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings - If We Value Work, Let's Value What Makes Work PossibleFrom:Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]If We Value Work, Let"s Value What Makes Work Possible Date:Monday, October 12, 2026 8:04:05 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Every paid subscription supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is nowhere near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! If We Value Work, Let's Value WhatMakes Work Possible As Montana begins enforcing new Medicaid work requirements duringNational Disability Employment Awareness Month, it's worth asking whatactually makes work possible. READ IN APP OCT 12 October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This year’s national theme is “Celebrating Value and Talent,” recognizing the skills and contributions disabled people bring to America’s workplaces, communities, and economy. Here in Montana, that celebration arrives at an interesting moment. On October 1, Montana began enforcing new community engagement requirements for many adults covered by Medicaid expansion. The requirements generally call for 80 hours per month of qualifying activities, including work, education, job training, community service, or volunteering. There are exemptions, including for some people whose health conditions significantly impair their ability to work. So, at the same time the country is recognizing disability employment, Montana is having an important conversation about healthcare and work. There are plenty of arguments to be had about Medicaid work requirements. But I want to step back and ask a more basic question: What actually makes it possible for people with disabilities to work? Saying we value work is easy. But what would it look like if we really meant it, not just as a slogan, but as a goal serious enough to shape our investments, programs, and bureaucratic processes? For many disabled people, the path to employment starts long before filling out an application. Someone might need a wheelchair or personal assistance to leave home. They might need reliable healthcare, medication, or transportation. They may need help identifying a career, getting training, or finding an employer. A young person might need to understand what earning a paycheck will do to benefits or healthcare they depend on. Once someone gets a job, they may need an accommodation to succeed in it. Sometimes healthcare, disability services, and public benefits aren’t alternatives to working. They’re part of what makes working possible. Work doesn’t happen in a vacuum One program specifically created to help disabled people prepare for, obtain, maintain, or regain employment is Montana Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services. But this state agency is currently operating under an Order of Selection, which occurs when it lacks sufficient resources to serve everyone who is eligible. Currently none of Montana’s three priority categories are open. That does not mean people shouldn’t apply. Montana’s plan says they will continue accepting applications and determining eligibility. Eligible applicants may be placed on a waiting list. People should receive information about their priority category, their right to appeal that assignment, and the availability of assistance from Disability Rights Montana’s Client Assistance Program. Now put that alongside the Medicaid changes. We are asking some Montanans to demonstrate engagement with work or other qualifying activities to maintain Medicaid coverage at the same time a public program specifically designed to help disabled Montanans work has none of its three priority categories open. If we’re serious about work, we should be equally serious about what makes work possible. There’s another barrier we don’t discuss enough: fear of what working will do to disability benefits. Imagine you’re 18 or 19. You receive disability benefits or healthcare services you depend on, and you’re considering your first job. Then somebody tells you: “Be careful. I’ve heard that if you work, you’ll lose your benefits.” The employment system is constrained too Fear about benefits can become a barrier Is that true? Maybe not. It is actually a pretty complicated, fact specific question. So I get it, if you don’t understand the rules, avoiding work may feel safer than finding out. But SSI, SSDI, and Medicaid have different rules. Social Security also has work incentives that can help some beneficiaries test employment and protect benefits or healthcare under certain circumstances. People shouldn’t have to make decisions about their futures based on rumors about what might happen to their benefits. That’s why Disability Rights Montana has developed a new training about Social Security disability benefits and young adults. Our advocate Eva Belansky explains what changes around age 18, how employment can affect different benefits, and work incentives people should understand when preparing for employment. The message is simple: Don’t assume receiving disability benefits means work is off the table. Learn how the rules apply to your circumstances before deciding what’s possible. That training is part of a larger collection of employment resources from Disability Rights Montana, including free videos and a Disabled Worker’s Handbook covering benefits, Vocational Rehabilitation, Order of Selection, workplace accommodations, rights within the VR system, and entrepreneurship. Disabled Worker Resources We also have another new training from Eva about appealing a Medicaid denial. A denial letter can feel final. But it isn’t necessarily the end of the process. The training explains Medicaid fair hearings, requesting records, gathering evidence, and preparing to challenge certain adverse decisions. We aren’t trying to turn everybody into experts on administrative law, Social Security, or Vocational Rehabilitation. We’re trying to make systems that profoundly affect people’s lives a little less mysterious. Information doesn’t guarantee an outcome. But understanding the rules gives people a better opportunity to exercise their rights and make informed decisions. When someone isn’t working, we shouldn’t automatically assume the explanation resides entirely within that person. Move the camera backward. Is transportation available? Can they get the healthcare or personal assistance they need? Can they access employment services? Do they understand how working will affect their benefits? Can they get the equipment or accommodations they need? Maybe then we can better understand why simply telling people “Go to work” isn’t working. A much more productive approach is asking: “What can we do to make work possible?” The right support doesn’t diminish independence. Sometimes it is precisely what makes independence possible. This National Disability Employment Awareness Month, let’s celebrate disabled workers. But let’s expect more of ourselves than celebration. If we value employment, we should care whether people can access the healthcare, employment services, information, and supports that make employment possible. Looking for work or navigating Vocational Rehabilitation? Explore our employment videos and Disabled Worker’s Handbook. Look at the barrier before blamingthe person If we value work, let’s value whatmakes work possible Workers' Rights Young and wondering what working will mean for disability benefits? Watch our new training on Social Security disability benefits and young adults. Work & Benefits Received a Medicaid denial? Watch our new Medicaid appeals training. Medicaid Appeal If you are looking for work, you don’t have to understand every system. Start with the question in front of you. If you want to promote more employment of Disabled Montanans, do something harder than asking for it or celebrating it. Ask what’s standing in their way, and then let’s do something about it. In solidarity, David David Carlson, J.D. Executive Director Disability Rights Montana You’re currently a free subscriber to Life Beyond Compliance. 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