When Pain Goes Unfelt: The Cruelty of Medicaid Work Requirements

People know very little about the writers at Closer to the Edge. That's by design — anonymity keeps us safe, and frankly, most of us prefer to let the work speak for itself. The other writers here can keep it that way if they want, but I’m going to break tradition for a moment. I want to share something personal with you because I think it helps drive home the points I’m about to make.

I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease — a neurological disorder that messes with the way my body feels. The nerves that are supposed to carry messages — hot, cold, sharp, dull — don’t always arrive on time, or sometimes they don’t show up at all. It’s like my nervous system is a mailman who spends half his shift napping in the truck before remembering he’s supposed to deliver the news.