By Verla Insko
Official Washington is gripped by heated and contentious budget talks that include many misguided ideas for reducing federal spending on health care. Among the proposals under consideration are several that would slash as much as $150 billion from Medicaid by shifting costs from federal to state governments. This crude approach appeals to those who value protecting corporate CEO profits and tax breaks for billionaires over everything else, but here in the real world we need to achieve a budget agreement that protects middle-class families and state budgets.
As a state representative and a former health care administrator, I know how important Medicaid funding is to our many neighbors who are seniors, low-income children and people with disabilities. Adequate Medicaid funding ensures that our folks have access to the kind of care we expect in times of need. Whether it’s an extended stay in a nursing home, a quick visit to a doctor’s office, inpatient hospital care or access to services that improve the lives of people with disabilities, it’s no exaggeration to say that Medicaid-funded care is a lifeline to thousands of people in our area.
If these benefits falter because of actions in Washington, it would devastate the people of North Carolina, damage our state budget and deal a blow to our local economy.
Medicaid is already under the gun because of funding cuts passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and seniors would be big losers. In North Carolina, Medicaid pays for 67 percent of those who need nursing home care.
Seniors and people with disabilities make up one-quarter of the Medicaid enrollees but account for two-thirds of Medicaid spending. Medicaid acts as the primary payer for 64 percent of all nursing home residents. Big cuts to Medicaid would force our middle-class families to use their own nest eggs to pay huge costs for their parents’ nursing home care while struggling to make ends meet and save for their own retirement and children’s college tuition. The average cost of nursing home care in the U.S. is $74,800 a year, while the median household income is only about $52,000.
Medicaid funding helps support the local economy. Particularly in rural areas across the state, where there tend to be disproportionately high numbers of elderly and people with disabilities, health care providers are always among the biggest employers and purchasers of goods and services and therefore are a critical driver of the local economy. Medicaid funds pour into our hospitals, such as WakeMed and UNC, as well as medical practices, testing centers, nursing homes, home health agencies and every other kind of provider that depends on Medicaid funding for its survival. It’s a far more important program than a lot of people realize. A recent report by Families USA shows that cutting Medicaid by one-third would result in a $6 billion loss in business activity and almost 60,000 lost jobs in North Carolina alone.
It deeply concerns me to think of the substantial and irreversible economic damage that would happen here if these cuts were enacted. Business activity would surely slow – not just in health care, but in all the businesses that rely on paychecks from health care providers. Jobs would be lost across North Carolina as this crucial economic force dries up. At a time when the local economy is so fragile and the outlook for jobs is so precarious, cutting Medicaid is the last thing we need.
Turning the Medicaid program into a block grant will shift the cost burden onto families and states that simply don’t have the wherewithal to take up the slack. North Carolina is already struggling to sustain Medicaid services with the existing matching funds from the federal government. The Republican plan would make our Medicaid program buckle under the pressure.
This plan unfairly targets our most vulnerable populations: the elderly, people with disabilities and low-income children. Moreover, eroding the safety net will undermine the economic security of struggling families across America. Directly or indirectly, the middle-class majority will suffer without affordable health care.
The budget negotiators should focus on ending wasteful tax subsidies and loopholes for large corporations that don’t need it. Our big companies already are sitting on $800 billion in cash that they aren’t investing to create jobs while they post the greatest profits of all time. The budget deal should end tax breaks to the wealthy and super-wealthy individuals, who are making more money than ever without paying their fair share for the privilege of living in a remarkable country that has given them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. The budget deal should include a balanced approach that doesn’t devastate the middle-class families who rely on Medicare and Medicaid.
High unemployment, high gas prices, rising food costs and a weak housing market are already conspiring against our community. We don’t need to make matters worse by removing the safety net that protects millions from the disastrous costs of essential health benefits.
Verla Insko represents Orange County in the N.C. House of Representatives.
Greece here we come!
I attended a Long Term Care District 4 Meeting on Sept. 16. We were told a out the Proposed Medicaid Cuts. They were:
HIV Services ???
Organ Transplant Services ???
OT/PT
PCS
Eye Exams & Glasses
Dental Services
I found the document on cuts with the exception of HIV and Transplant Services.
Do you have documention on these cuts? My would like to know. Thanks
Rev. Saundra Bullock-Hunter Ph.D.