Template Op-Ed on Senate Graham-Cassidy Proposal

Template Op-Ed on Senate Graham-Cassidy Proposal

Congress Takes a Mulligan on Medicaid Cuts That Could Hurt Seniors Most

After a dramatic late-July bipartisan defeat of congressional proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and inflict deep cuts to the federal-stateMedicaid program, lawmakers are pushing through Graham-Cassidy—a legislative proposal that again proposes deep cuts to Medicaid. These deep Medicaid cuts that Senate Republicans are considering will jeopardize critical care for older adults and directly affect their caregivers, which will have devastating consequences for seniors and families in every state.

Most people think Medicaid, our nation’s safety net health care program, only serves very low-income children and mothers, and increasingly low-income working adults. In reality, the majority of Medicaid spending provides services and supports to help people with disabilities and older adults simply live their lives.

For older adults and caregivers, Medicaid is the country’s only guaranteed provider or the critical long-term care services that most of us will need as we age. Nearly two-thirds of long-term care provided in nursing homes is paid for by Medicaid. With nursing homes averaging nearly $90,000 per year, without Medicaid, millions of older adults and families would be financially overwhelmed if these services were limited or no longer available.

However, Medicaid is also important to helping our country address the challenges of a rapidly aging nation. The population of older adults is growing at an historic pace, and over 90 percent of seniors say they would rather age at home and in their communities, where care is often less expensive and often more effective. While less expensive than nursing home care, in-home services are often cost prohibitive for families as well.

This is also where Medicaid comes in—and why cuts to the program could be especially harmful to older adults who want to age with independence and dignity at home and in the community for as long as possible. Medicaid has been a primary driver of expanding long-term care options in communities. For over 30 years, states have increasingly moved toward providing “waiver” services that allow —Medicaid-eligible seniors to get the care that they need in their homes instead of in institutions. These services, which are often a fraction of the cost of nursing home care, can include, but are not limited to,in-home help with bathing, dressing, meal preparation and other activities of daily life. Several Medicaid programs have also successfully moved tens of thousands of people from institutional settings back into their homes and communities, offering consumers more independence while saving taxpayer dollars.

[If you can, insert a paragraph about how local home and community-based services provided through Medicaid have benefited older adults in your communities.]

Unfortunately, the Graham-Cassidy proposal could change the trajectory of providing long-term care in homes and communities instead of institutions by cutting and capping the federal government’s share and pushing these costs on to states. That’s unfair and simply not sustainable, so states will have to make terrible choices that will hurt those who depend upon Medicaid for their health and safety. Older adults could lose the amount of in-home care they receive or could be required to pay for services despite being poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Families seeking care for a loved one will encounter long wait lists for services, and cuts to provider rates will harm the long-term care workforce.

It makes no sense to undermine the only long-term care option available to most Americans just as our country undergoes a transformational demographic shift to an aging nation. If we really want to save federal health care dollars, we should expand the mostcost-effective care optionsinstead of eliminating them. Not only do theseMedicaid-funded programs preserve the dignity and independence of older adults in COMMUNITY and across the country, they also save taxpayerstens of billions of dollars each yearin avoided nursing home costs.

Our seniors deserve better. We encourage Senators [X and Y] to not only reject cuts to Medicaid in the Graham-Cassidy proposal, but also to continue the bipartisan, collaborative process that is already underway to address the real health care challenges that we face. You can help, too. Get in touch with INSERT NAMES OF SENATORS, and tell them to reject any Medicaid cuts that could be devastating to older adults and families in [STATE].