Justice Ender: College Graduate, Taxpayer, Medicaid Beneficiary

June 2, 2017

Justice Ender speaking

I was born with a comprehensive physical disability. My family had to sell everything to pay for my medical care.

Only then did I qualify for Medicaid.

Medicaid has paid for treatment, medicine, and equipment throughout my life. It is the only insurance program not biased against people with disabilities; Medicare and my private insurance are basically worthless.

Viewed from the back, a person in a black winter coat rolls his wheelchair down a snowy and tree-lined pathway on what looks to be a college campus. The supports provided by Medicaid have allowed me to go to college and find a job. I now work more than 40 hours a week and also volunteer extensively in my community.

My disability is permanent and I will always need Medicaid to provide certain supports. I currently pay far more in taxes than I use in Medicaid each year, but if my Medicaid assistance is taken away, I will have to quit working because the supports it provides are essential to my daily life.

Justice Ender is a person with a disability from Missoula, Montana.