March 18, 2025 | nydailynews.com online article

As the CEO of one of the nation’s largest nonprofits supporting people with disabilities to live and work in their communities—funded primarily through Medicaid—I am perplexed by my colleagues who fear Medicaid cuts. I voted for President Donald Trump because I believed, and still believe, that he would keep his promise not to cut Medicaid. Others disagree.

Thirty-six years ago, I founded a nonprofit by taking out loans against my home, maxing out credit cards, working 15-hour days, seven days a week, and calling in every favor I could. I did it because I believed that people with disabilities deserved more than to be warehoused in institutions. They deserve to live, work, and have meaningful lives in their communities with the right support. Today, Community Options fulfills that mission, serving more than 6,000 individuals with disabilities through a $450 million budget—97% of which comes from Medicaid, primarily through home and community-based waiver services. If Medicaid were to disappear or face drastic cuts, so would our nonprofit. The people we support, who now thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods, would be forced into institutions, nursing homes, or worse.

That is why, as a dedicated advocate and leader of a Medicaid-driven nonprofit, I am not only committed to protecting Medicaid but to fighting for its expansion and improvement.

Representative Al Green was escorted out of the House chamber for protesting alleged Medicaid cuts during President Trump’s joint address to Congress. Trump has consistently opposed Medicaid cuts. Yet, this has become a political flashpoint for all the wrong reasons. His opponents are fueling fears about Medicaid—not out of genuine concern for healthcare or disability support—but because outrage over vulnerable populations makes for convenient political theater.

Where was this outrage when disability policies had nothing to do with Trump? Why didn’t Al Green protest when the ban on using electric shocks and mechanical restraints for behavior modification was reversed? Where were the voices of dissent as the hourly wage for fast-food workers soared past that of the caregivers who are the backbone of disability support? Did I miss the outcry when home and community-based services waitlists surpassed tens of thousands across multiple states? Or when 210,000 people with disabilities under 65 were funneled into nursing homes because no alternatives existed?

I understand the fear of potential Medicaid cuts. What I cannot tolerate is the opportunistic timing of this outrage. The public anger we see today is not about protecting people with disabilities—it’s about undermining a president. Disability rights, long neglected, finally have the spotlight, but for all the wrong reasons. What we are witnessing isn’t true advocacy; it’s political exploitation.

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Robert Stack is the founder, President, and CEO of Community Options, Inc., a national non-profit organization that develops housing and employment for 6,000 people with disabilities across 12 states. Mr. Stack has been a national leader in the continuing struggle to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is of the first in the nation to implement a national non-profit implementing an alternative to the warehousing of people with disabilities in large institutions. Stack is the author of Silent No Longer: Advancing the Fight for Disability Rights, which will be published in September 2025.