The House and Republican alternative proposals (the American Health Care Act — AHCA) to the Affordable Care Act recommends sweeping changes to Medicaid. There are two — if not more — items that will directly impact seniors.
1) Either you are fortunate enough to be able to afford long-term care insurance, or it is out of reach. Medicaid provides coverage for services we may need as we age and become less able to care for ourselves.
Assisted living and nursing homes are one option. A preferable, less expensive option is to receive services in our homes. These services can be covered by our insurance or by self pay.
Once we spend all our personal funds (think retirement savings) then Medicaid kicks in. I hope to exit before that happens, but life goes on and we get old.
Here’s the punch line:
If Medicaid is cut and changed to a block grant system, then funding that has kept millions of seniors in their homes may be at risk. And nursing home funding also may be impacted.
2) Medicare does not pay for long-term care services. What does AHCA do to Medicare? It repeals a surtax on high-income earners reducing Medicare revenue by $117 billion by 2026, creating an unsustainable Medicare moving it to insolvency in less than 10 years.
Thank our three legislators who opposed the AHCA bill.
But if you know people in Washington or other states, share this with them and urge them to contact their legislators.
If we can’t care for our elders what does that say about us?
Jody Moss,
Port Angeles