At his confirmation hearing last week Robert F Kennedy Jr. stated “Medicaid is not working for Americans. We are spending $900 billion, and our people are getting sicker every year.” It appears that the new Secretary of Health and Human Services doesn’t realize that nearly one-third of the total Medicaid budget is spent on nursing home care. It’s safe to say that most nursing home residents are not going to experience improved health outcomes.
When your elderly or disabled family member needs long-term nursing home care, they generally spend all their own assets to cover the cost. Once they run out of their own funds, the Medicaid program covers the cost. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid covers 6 in 10 nursing home residents. In Pennsylvania 64% of nursing home residents are covered by the program.
In their wild haste to slash government programs, it’s clear Elon Musk and the Trump administration lack the discernment necessary to understand how these important programs work and who benefits from them. It’s also unclear whether Dr. Mehmet Oz, former talk show host and new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, understands them either.
This poorly considered cost-cutting could cost your family tens of thousands of dollars or more – or deprive you or your family of the care they need. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, contact your senators and congressmen and ask them where they stand on cutting Medicaid and how it might impact your family and friends in nursing homes.
Senator McCormick – 202-224-6324; Senator Fetterman – 202-224-4254; Congressmen Thompson – 202-225-5121; Congressmen Meuser – 202-225-6511
Don Wilver, Jr. (New Columbia)