A 125-Mile Wheelchair Ride to the Wisconsin Capitol
Carl Schulze rolled into the Wisconsin Capitol on August 7, 2026, after driving his powered wheelchair 125 miles from his apartment in Fox Crossing, near Neenah. Schulze broke his neck in a fall 19 years ago and cannot use his arms or legs. Medicaid pays for the home care aides who help him with every daily task.
The journey was a protest. The federal tax cut and spending law President Donald Trump signed in July 2025 cuts Medicaid by more than $900 million over ten years, and Wisconsin’s disabled residents are facing the consequences.
Federal Medicaid Cuts Threaten Home Care for Disabled Residents
When states lose federal Medicaid funding, they look for programs to trim. Home and community-based services, which pay for aides like the ones Schulze relies on, are consistently among the first to be cut. Those cuts force disabled people into nursing homes or other institutions at far greater state and personal cost.
“The federal government is openly telling states, there will be no consequences if they defund the very services that keep disabled people living at home. They have effectively given states a green light to warehouse us again.”
Carl Schulze, Fox Crossing resident and disability rights advocate, August 7, 2026
Schulze’s concern is not hypothetical. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice issued a legal memo in June 2026 rejecting the long-held interpretation of the Olmstead ruling, the 1999 Supreme Court decision that established people with disabilities have the right to receive care in their homes and communities rather than in institutions. With that federal enforcement shield removed, states face no federal penalty for cutting home care programs.
The Ripple Effects Reach Beyond Wisconsin
The consequences of Medicaid cuts spread well beyond individual enrollees. When hospitals absorb more uninsured patients, everyone in the surrounding area pays a price. A CalMatters analysis found that federal and state Medicaid cuts are expected to double California’s uninsured rate, causing 2.2 million people to lose coverage by 2030. Researchers point to the 2007 closure of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles as a precedent: neighboring hospitals reported emergency wait times exceeding 11 hours, and mortality rates worsened across the region.
Wisconsin is not California, but the mechanism is the same. Fewer people with coverage means more uncompensated care, thinner hospital margins, and reduced services for everyone, including privately insured patients.
Schulze also warned that separate federal grant cuts, tied to programs the administration says no longer align with its priorities, will cut independent living support in Wisconsin further, adding another layer of uncertainty for disabled residents who depend on those resources.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your U.S. senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose any further Medicaid cuts or work requirement rules. Specifically ask them to oppose CMS implementation rules that impose additional eligibility barriers on home and community-based services.
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Contact Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s office at (608) 266-1212 and urge him to protect home and community-based Medicaid waivers from cuts in the next state budget cycle. Ask his office to publicly oppose DOJ’s June 2026 Olmstead memo.
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File a public comment with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at regulations.gov when CMS opens comment periods on new Medicaid rules. Search “Medicaid” on regulations.gov and filter for open comment periods. Comments from people with disabilities and their family members carry weight in administrative proceedings.
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Contact your Wisconsin state legislators at legis.wisconsin.gov/representatives and ask them to pass state-level Olmstead protections that guarantee the right to home-based care regardless of federal policy. Seven states have codified similar protections in state law.
Sources
Wisconsin Examiner: Carl Schulze Completes 125-Mile Wheelchair Ride to Wisconsin Capitol
Wisconsin Examiner: Federal Disability Protections Fade as Olmstead Interpretation Rolled Back
CalMatters: Medicaid Cuts Expected to Double California’s Uninsured Rate by 2030