Kansas advocates condemn U.S. House budget tied to Republicans' proposed Medicaid cuts

BY: ANNA KAMINSKI

Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Kansas organizations advocating for sustained funding for Medicaid services said hundreds of billions of dollars in proposed federal budget cuts to the national health program can be deadly to vulnerable people with disabilities as well as seniors and children.

Medicaid, the public health insurance program serving millions of Americans, is a target of many Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., who seek to reduce expenditures as part of a government-efficiency effort. Medicaid covers about one in five Americans.

Kansas representatives from the fields of health care, disability rights, senior care and youths told reporters during a news conference Monday at the state Capitol the potential budget reductions are "unfathomable" and "draconian," and they run the risk of creating "devastating" consequences.

The U.S. House has been working toward a vote this week on a budget resolution that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over a 10-year period.

President Donald Trump previously vowed to protect Medicaid, but he recently gave his blessing to the U.S. House's budget outline that includes reforms to Medicaid-related programs.

"It's already frustratingly difficult for people with disabilities or parents of kids with disabilities to get the care they need," said Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. "Making large, deadly cuts to Medicaid will make it dramatically harder to get that care and will greatly increase the number of Kansans who languish and die on HCBS waitlists while waiting for the very services they need to accommodate their disabilities."

April Holman, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, said slashing spending to Medicaid, or KanCare as it's known in Kansas, will come at the expense of seniors who live in nursing homes or require in-home care, low-income children and their parents as well as pregnant women and people with disabilities.

"There is no way that cuts of this level would not take coverage away from the Kansans the program was intended to protect: seniors, children and people with disabilities," Holman said.

The elderly

Adoption of sweeping federal reductions to Medicaid will weaken Kansas' system of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. It may force facilities closures and cast providers and caregivers out of the state's workforce.

"Medicaid is a critical part of senior care because tens of thousands of Kansans rely on it for everyday services," said Dan Goodman, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care.

On average, a semi-private room in a nursing home costs $7,700 per month, and Goodman said he's puzzled as to how seniors will be able to afford care if Medicaid assistance is reduced.

"It is a business model," Goodman said, "and this industry doesn't give discounts."

He questioned whether American taxpayers will be on the hook for plugging the gaps left behind by proposed cuts. The threat of Medicaid reductions isn't a new threat, he said.

"I think the concern this time is how it's being done in a reckless manner without regard to the consequences," Goodman said.

And, the kids

Adrienne Olejnik, vice president of Kansas Action for Children, said less federal aid funneled into Kansas likely means state legislators will be forced to make decisions about where cuts take place and who they impact. Thousands of Kansans with disabilities rely on Medicaid to cover in-home care.

"Kansas lawmakers have worked so hard to make sure that people with disabilities can stay in their homes and receive the services they need," Olejnik said. "I think that, unfortunately, is probably going to be one of the first places they're going to have to look to cut here in Kansas."

Nearly one in three children in Kansas get health coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. Children in rural Kansas communities are especially reliant on Medicaid for health coverage.

"Large cuts to Medicaid would mean children would lose access to screening and detection services needed to identify developmental delays, behavioral challenges, and health issues," Olejnik said.

The proposed cuts are only a sliver of the $2.3 trillion in Medicaid cuts that congressional leaders have shown interest in.

"This is going to be on the backs of Kansas kids and families," Olejnik said.

Kansas is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, so it already misses out on hundreds of millions annually in federal funding for health care. Restrictions on Medicaid coverage, eligibility and reimbursement rates are likely to swell if federal cuts are implemented, advocates said.

Federal expenditure changes are likely to impact the 40 expansion states and the non-expansion states like Kansas differently.

Democratic House and Senate members in Kansas attempted last week to amend legislation to expand eligibility for Medicaid to about 150,000 people. Gov. Laura Kelly has endorsed a series of expansion plans and has included a work requirement for new enrollees demanded by Republicans.