Will Senators Ernst And Grassley Kick Grandma Out Of Nursing Home?

[Omaha Steve]

On July 17, 2017 By rick-smith

The Republicans’ latest Senate bill to repeal Obamacare would cut $800 billion dollars from Medicaid, devastating the program that covers 69 million Americans. A great deal of the debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare has focused on people losing coverage on the Obamacare Exchanges. However, the Republican repeal both weakens the protections established under Obamacare and it threatens to rip the basic Medicaid safety net out from under millions of elderly and disabled Americans.

Over two-thirds of all nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. These are elderly Americans that have depleted their savings and are dependent on Medicaid to pay for their nursing home care. Iowa has a high number of elderly and disabled residents in nursing homes, and the number is growing as Iowa’s population ages.

In Iowa over 600,000 disabled and elderly Iowans are dependent on Medicaid for their survival. It’s been widely reported that many of Iowa’s hospitals and nursing homes are at risk of closure if Senate Republicans vote for these massive cuts to Medicaid. Steve Ackerson, President of the Iowa Health Care Association predicted Medicaid cuts would be catastrophic for Iowa nursing homes.

“Just imagine what would happen after a 20 to 25 percent cut,” Ackerson said. “Nursing homes could be particularly vulnerable to deep Medicaid cuts the bill would bring. More than half of all residents in Iowa nursing homes are covered by Medicaid, which pays an average of about $172 per day. On average, the nursing homes lose $26 per day on each of those residents,” said Ackerson.

FULL story: https://iowastartingline.com/2017/07/17/will-senators-ernst-grassley-kick-grandma-nursing-home/

[greymattermom]

1. Keep mentioning that

So many folks don't have the space, money, time, or ability to have grandma come back from the nursing home to live with them. They forget that medicaid pays for this.

[tonyt53]

2. I'd put money on Grassley "yes" and Ernst "no".