Dr. Oz thinks you should "prove that you matter."

(Spoiler alert: I don't think you should have to prove anything.)

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Dr. Oz, the wholly unqualified quack at the helm of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said all the quiet parts out loud in his recent interview with Fox News about Medicaid work requirements:

"We’re asking that able-bodied individuals who are able to go back to work at least try to get a job or at least volunteer or take care of a loved-one who needs help or go back to school...Go out there, do entry-level jobs, get into the workforce, prove that you matter. Get agency into your own life. It's a much more enjoyable experience if you go through life thinking you are in control of your destiny and you will get better insurance at the same time."

This entire sentiment is an absolute mess.

While there is a legal definition of "disabled," there is no law defining the term "able-bodied." The disability status of minds and bodies naturally shifts and can change at any moment. Who, by the standards of this administration, would be deemed "not disabled enough"? By what qualifications would this be measured? This sets a dangerous precedent.

Moreover, regardless of this distinction between “able-bodied” people and other Medicaid beneficiaries, the entire notion of needing to earn your keep is problematic. It’s grounded in ableist standards of how people should function, and the belief that the issue isn’t people encountering circumstances often beyond their control, but rather just “laziness.”

The mentality that it’s always possible to pull yourself up by the bootstraps becomes a catch-22 for marginalized people forced to navigate systems designed to shut them out and keep them in poverty. Of course life is more enjoyable when you’re in control of your path. But this administration is gleefully putting up roadblocks to these pathways.

I often try to contextualize this using the example of transportation. Despite living in a very digital-heavy age, transportation empowers people to pursue education and employment opportunities, seek out healthcare, socialize, exercise their right to vote, etc. But what if you can’t afford a car without getting a job? What if you’re deemed “able-bodied” but unable to drive? What if you don’t live in an area with reliable, accessible public transportation? There are so many variables.

We also need to dig a bit deeper into the other angle of why Oz’s comments are so harmful. This administration keeps claiming they’re actually being helpful because they’re going to “eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse” by returning to Medicaid’s “original intent” of serving “the most vulnerable.” That is, low-income pregnant women, children, disabled people, and elderly people.

But this administration is doing nothing to actually support these populations. They’re not building up social safety nets. They’re hell bent on cutting access to healthcare and dismantling social services that ensure basic survival.

Beyond that, as they send the message that your worth is rooted in productivity, they’re playing directly into the soft bigotry of low expectations toward disabled people—the stigmatizing belief that we’re incapable or unworthy of being a valued part of families, workplaces, and communities.

How deeply infuriating for these people to be so unapologetically racist, classist, ableist. How deeply sad to be so afraid of your own mediocrity that you push people down so you can undeservedly rise higher. How deeply sad to refuse to acknowledge that to exist is to matter—no matter a person’s circumstances.

No one should ever have to prove that they matter. You matter because you are human.

Image description: A bright, circular-patterned graphic in pink, purple, blue, and yellow with text that says "you matter."

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