926 - A Disability Advocate Speaks Out on Medicaid Cuts
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.8 • 620 Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
About this episode:
Medicaid cuts from the recent budget reconciliation law are raising fears of cutbacks among Americans with disabilities who rely on the program for services that allow them to live independently. In this episode: Demi Eckhoff, who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and who relies on Medicaid in North Carolina, explains the uncertainty and what people with disabilities are doing to advocate for themselves.
Guest:
Demi Eckhoff, MPH, is a disability advocate, a registered dietitian, and an incoming doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Host:
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.
Show links and related content:
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Disabled Americans Fear What Medicaid Cuts Could Do to Them—New York Times
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Five Ways the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Make It More Difficult to Get Health Insurance in N.C.—The Assembly
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America’s Caregiver Crisis—Public Health On Call (July 2025)
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The Potential Impacts of Cuts To Medicaid—Public Health On Call (March 2025)
Transcript information:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:08.0 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:18.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhh.edu. |
| 0:25.9 | That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:33.8 | It's Lindsay Smith Rogers. |
| 0:36.0 | Today, what it's like to read the headlines on cuts to the Medicaid program if you have a serious disability and rely on Medicaid for home and community services. Demi Eckhoff has a rare form of congenital muscular dystrophy and receives supports at home in her state of North Carolina. She's also an incoming student to the DRPH program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. |
| 0:59.3 | She talks to Dr. Josh Starfstein about changes to the Medicaid budget that are coming soon. |
| 1:04.6 | Let's listen. |
| 1:05.8 | Demi Eckoff, welcome to Public Health on call. |
| 1:08.8 | It's great to have you here. |
| 1:11.1 | Yeah, it's an honor to be here. Thank you. |
| 1:14.6 | I wonder if we might start with some general introductions. |
| 1:19.6 | I'm the host of this podcast and I teach at the School Public Health, a school, that you will soon be attending as a doctoral student. |
| 1:27.8 | We're really excited to have you. |
| 1:29.2 | Could you tell me a little bit about yourself? |
| 1:31.8 | Yeah, so my name is Jenny Eiffel. |
| 1:34.6 | I was born with a rare form of congenital muscular dystrophy. |
| 1:40.8 | I am an incoming V-R-P-H student at Bloomberg School of Public Health. |
| 1:48.7 | I'm super excited to be joining. |
| 1:52.1 | And by trade, I am a registered dietitian. |
| 1:56.3 | I am a lovely cat mom to my favorite little cat special too. |
| 2:02.6 | So yeah, that's kind of me in a nutshell. |
... |
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