Although President Trump has been in office for less than a week, the battle lines are well drawn. Trump and the Republicans in Congress are looking for funds to pay for tax cuts and an immigration crackdown. One of the areas facing huge cuts is Medicaid.
Let us take a moment and examine how important Medicaid is — especially for seniors and family caregivers. Medicaid is a state and federal partnership that provides health care for the less fortunate. It was part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program — along with Medicare which provides health care to those age 65 and over. According to the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Medicaid “is the primary program providing comprehensive coverage of health care and long-term services and supports to more than 90 million low-income people in the United States.” Overall, roughly one five people living the United States have their health coverage provided by Medicaid.
Seniors and their caregivers have a particular stake in the upcoming debate over Medicaid. According the Senate Aging Committee, 62 percent of those in nursing homes have their care paid for by Medicaid. Cuts to Medicaid will also increase waiting lists for those waiting for home and community-based services (HCBS). Overall, the Senate Aging Committee estimates that 21 million Americans are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage.
Polling data shows that the American people strongly support Medicaid. January 2025 polling by KFF shows strong public support for Medicaid. Eighty-eight (88) percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Independents, and 64 percent of Republicans all have favorable opinions of Medicaid.
To understand, Medicaid’s importance it is helpful to look at some state specifics. Let us look at the swing state (or commonwealth to be more accurate) of Pennsylvania. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities points out that in Pennsylvania, that “261,000 of Pennsylvania’s seniors get health care through Medicaid, including nursing home care and services that help them live at home.”
Roughly 4.5 million people in the United States use Medicaid home care use “Medicaid home care, which provides medical and supportive services to help people with the activities of daily living (such as eating and bathing) and the instrumental activities of daily living (such as preparing meals and managing medications).” According to reporting from Politico, House Republicans are considering legislation that would cut Medicaid spending by $2.3 trillion over 10 years. This represents roughly a one-third cut in Medicaid spending. It would clearly have a devastating impact on family caregivers.
At this moment, plans to slash Medicaid’s support for family caregivers are being drafted. Now is the time for those who care about family caregivers to stand against Medicaid cuts. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, if we remain silent, we are guilty of complicity. So, I urge everyone who cares about family caregivers to email or call their member of Congress and tell them to stand up for family caregivers by saying no to Medicaid cuts.
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