A new federal rule could strip Medicaid coverage from millions of Americans and you have until July 31 to say something about it.

The Trump administration recently issued a rule requiring most Medicaid recipients to prove they’re working, in school, or volunteering at least 80 hours a month — or lose their coverage. For people living with HIV, cancer, serious mental illness, diabetes, and other chronic conditions, the stakes are especially high. The rule includes a medical frailty exemption that sounds protective, but there’s a catch: patients have to prove their illness prevents them from working. For patients whose conditions are being well-managed by consistent treatment, that standard is nearly impossible to meet. The exemption only applies after the treatment has already failed. By then, the damage may be irreversible.

Coverage disruption isn’t a pause button. For patients managing serious chronic illness, losing access to medication even briefly can mean disease progression, drug resistance, or a mental health crisis. And the cost of that disruption falls on patients, their families, and the community health clinics that serve them.