Louisiana’s Department of Health will begin sending nursing home eviction notices Thursday to more than 30,000 residents who could lose Medicaid under the budget passed by the state House of Representatives.
“The Louisiana Department of Health is beginning the process of notifying all impacted enrollees that some people may lose their Medicaid eligibility,” Department of Health spokesman Bob Johannessen said. “The goal of the department is to give notice to all affected people as soon as possible in order that they begin developing their appropriate plans.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ staff has planned a press conference Wednesday for more details, a day before the notices are set to be mailed to 37,000 Medicaid recipients in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.
via USA Today.
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In general, the older and poorer you are, the higher your premiums would be under the American Health Care Act compared with current law.
via VOX.
Related Reading:
- CBO Confirms: GOP Healthcare Bill is a Huge Setback for Older Americans.
- Seniors who rely on Medicaid will suffer under the American Health Care Act. The CBO report calculates that the AHCA slashes Medicaid spending by $834 billion. Medicaid currently helps pay for long term care for millions of seniors nationwide. The CBO estimates that some 14 million Medicaid recipients would lose coverage under the AHCA – or not be able to attain it in the first place – within the next 10 years.
House GOP Votes to Gut Medicaid, Weaken Medicare & Put Seniors’ healthcare at Risk
The National Committee strongly condemns the American Health Care Act (AHCA) just passed by the House, which needlessly puts the healthcare of millions of older Americans in jeopardy. “Despite the bill’s name, risking the health of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens to give the wealthy an $880 billion tax cut is tremendously uncaring — and does not reflect real American values…”
More on this issue via Entitled to Know.
House GOP Votes to Gut Medicaid, Weaken Medicare & Put Seniors’ healthcare at Risk
The National Committee strongly condemns the American Health Care Act (AHCA) just passed by the House, which needlessly puts the healthcare of millions of older Americans in jeopardy. “Despite the bill’s name, risking the health of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens to give the wealthy an $880 billion tax cut is tremendously uncaring — and does not reflect real American values,” says Max Richtman.
The bill cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid by converting it into a block grant program or imposing per capita caps, which will make it harder for impoverished seniors to access long term skilled nursing care and community or home care. Overall, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 14 million people will be kicked off the Medicaid rolls in the next 10 years if this bill becomes law.
More on the Obamacare Repeal here.
The Senate’s version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) is an exercise in political expediency that does nothing to safeguard access to quality healthcare for older Americans. President Trump rightly called the House-passed bill ‘mean’ and lacking ‘heart.’ Unfortunately, the Senate bill is only marginally less mean in some ways, and even more heartless in others.
This is a lose-lose for seniors and the American people. The biggest loss is that the AHCA ends the Medicaid program as we know it.
More from our statement on the Senate GOP’s healthcare bill can be found here.
The sticker-shock can happen when people go to the hospital but health care providers are not sure what’s wrong. If the patient is not sick enough to be formally admitted, but still not healthy enough to go home, they can stay in the hospital for “observation care,” which Medicare considers an outpatient service. That can mean higher out-of-pocket expenses for the patient.
via Kaiser Health News.
Related Reading:
Trump & Congress give Older Americans fewer reasons to celebrate this month. National Committee President Max Richtman explains why Older Americans Month is a time for concern this year.
[Senate Healthcare bill would give] The top 0.1 percent would receive an average tax cut of nearly $250,000. By comparison, a middle-income household would see a meager $280 in tax relief. There is something cruel and immoral about imperiling long term care for needy seniors while doling out huge tax cuts to those at the top of the economic ladder.
Medicaid was the primary payer for 62% of certified nursing facility residents —about 832,000 people— in 2015.
Long-term care related info:
- Older Americans Act.
- Protect against elder abuse and strengthen long-term care ombudsman services. Research shows a direct connection between elder abuse and increased need for costly services, such as nursing home care. Thus, beyond the ethical obligation to protect vulnerable older adults, these changes have the potential to achieve savings in other programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
As Max Richtman, the president and chief executive of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a nonprofit that promotes the financial security, health and well-being of older Americans, recently wrote on MarketWatch: “Most seniors simply don’t have the average $100,000 a year for a nursing home, $45,000 for assisted living, or $33,000 for in-home care.” He added, “Many middle-class seniors are forced to impoverish themselves by exhausting their hard-earned savings simply to qualify for Medicaid.”
via Market Watch.
Related Reading:
America’s long-term care crisis is worsening.
Many people mistakenly believe that Medicare covers long term care. (It does pay for the first 100 days of skilled nursing care following a hospitalization, but nothing more.) Medicaid — the federal health program for the poor — covers skilled nursing care for lower-income seniors, but does not pay for assisted living. Many middle-class seniors are forced to impoverish themselves by exhausting their hard-earned savings simply to qualify for Medicaid.
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure becomes the first black woman to lead the agency that oversees #Medicare and #Medicaid. She is a major improvement over President Trump’s CMS administrator, who undermined Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/us/politics/chiquita-brooks-lasure-medicare-medicaid.html @CMSGov