As a 22-year-old college student with cerebral palsy, I asked Byron Donalds and David Jolly about their platforms for Floridians with disabilities. I drive my wheelchair with head controls, I type with my nose, I speak through a communication app on my iPad and I spent 18 years on Florida’s waitlist for the iBudget Medicaid waiver, the program that lets people like me live at home instead of being warehoused in institutions. More than 15,000 Floridians are still stuck on that waitlist today.
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When I met Byron Donalds and told him I waited 18 years, he asked me to repeat how long. Fair enough — most people need to hear that number twice. He told me I deserved the waiver, but then immediately pivoted to fraud, waste and abuse which left me wondering whether he believes some nationwide alert goes out announcing that a promising new scam has dropped, at which point thousands of wheelchairs simultaneously roll up to government offices clutching fraudulent applications. For the record, there’s no group text. There isn’t even accessible parking at most places.
But you know what? He’s right. There is fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid. Since the congressman seems so passionate about it, I decided to lead his crackdown. Effective immediately, I’m Florida’s newest self-appointed Medicaid Fraud Inspector and here’s the findings from my first month on the job.
Case File Number 1: Me. In the interest of transparency I investigated myself first. Subject waited 18 years for basic disability services. I audited every year of the wait and found the only thing stolen was my childhood. Case closed.
Case File Number 2: The waitlist. I investigated all 15,000-plus Floridians currently waiting for services. The shocking discovery: Not one of them has managed to defraud a program they’re not allowed into. Airtight alibi.
Case File Number 3: Hope Florida. Now we’re cooking. A leaked grand jury report found $10 million owed to Florida’s Medicaid program was funneled to Governor DeSantis’ wife’s pet project and from there to political committees and not one dime reached the sick and needy children it was meant for. Naturally I was excited to tell Byron Donalds I’d found millions in missing Medicaid money he could investigate. Then I found out he’d already ruled out looking into it. Now I’ve only been on the job a month, but even I know you shouldn’t end an investigation just because the prime suspects are from your own party.
Case File Number 4: Columbia/HCA. Jackpot! The hospital giant paid $1.7 billion in what was then the largest Medicaid fraud settlement in American history. At the time, the company was run by Rick Scott, whom Florida then elected governor, then senator and who’s now endorsed Byron Donalds. So when the congressman went looking for Medicaid fraud he didn’t need to look at people in wheelchairs, he could’ve checked his own endorsement list. The call was coming from inside the campaign.
Which brings me to the other guy. Talking to David Jolly felt less like meeting a politician and more like watching one of those TikTok couples who finish each other’s sentences and make everyone else vaguely uncomfortable.
I’d say, “I waited 18 years for services.” He’d say, “The last time Florida cleared the waitlist was when Jeb Bush was governor.”
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I’d say, “You know what sucks?” He’d say, “Do you mean managed care companies that cut your care to boost their profits?”
Annoyingly, yes. That was exactly what I meant.
I’d say, “Florida is 49th in the nation for disability services…” He’d say, “…in funding the iBudget waiver.”
As a fraud investigator, I found this suspicious and briefly considered opening a file on him. No politician usually knows this much about disability policy voluntarily.
My preliminary conclusion is that fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid is real. It just isn’t committed by Floridians with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or autism. The people stealing from Medicaid don’t use wheelchairs, they use LLCs. Congressman Donalds was searching the wrong end of the income ladder, which as an investigator I’d call a rookie mistake, except he’s been on a government payroll for a decade.
So here’s my final report. I don’t need a governor who sees 15,000 people waiting for disability services and calls it a list of suspects. I need one who investigates why we waited.
One candidate wanted to talk about fraud, waste and abuse. The other wanted to talk about us. On Nov. 3, I’m voting for David Jolly.
JJ Holmes is a 22-year-old college student and disability advocate from Longwood, and a 2025 Central Floridian of the Year.
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