Disability Pride Month may be over, but the need for accessible, quality, and affordable healthcare in the South doesn't end in July.

Here's what one disabled Southerner wants people to know about healthcare access. "Since the South is home to a third of all disabled people in the U.S., it's imperative that we have access to quality, affordable health care, yet 7 of the 10 states that refused to expand Medicaid are in our region, leaving hundreds of thousands of us without that care. Additionally, limited funding and low wages resulting in a care-worker shortage has left many disabled Southerners without access to home and community-based services (HCBS), forcing some into institutions. Our rural residents also experience healthcare deserts, with some lacking accessible transportation to reach providers who may be far away. I'm proud to be in the fight for disability justice, including expanded health care access!" ALT Embedded. IDs: S1: A graphic with a landscape background featuring a blue sky and a green grassy plane. In the upper right corner, in ivory text, the graphic says: "Healthcare is a disability justice issue". In the center is a dark purple rounded rectangle with the prompt: "As a disabled southerner, I want people to know:" in response to the prompt reads: "The South is home to a third of all disabled people in the U.S., it's imperative that we have access to quality, affordable health care." The NDS logo is in the lower left corner of the graphic. S2: A light purple graphic featuring a quote from a disabled Southerner about how the South is home to one-third of all disabled people in the United States, the need for quality, affordable healthcare, care worker shortages, and healthcare deserts and limited accessible transportation in rural communities. An illustration of the Earth is in the bottom right. Description continued in the comments below