SCHUMER LOCALIZES BUDGET DANGER: UNDER GOP PLAN TO CRIPPLE MEDICAID, COUNTLESS SI SENIORS COULD BE DISCHARGED FROM NURSING HOMES, REHAB FACILITIES & ASSISTED LIVING; SENATOR DEMANDS GOP BLOCK TRUMP PLAN TO DECIMATE MEDICAID BY $880 BILLION-- BIGGEST CUT IN HISTORY; WOULD UPEND COUNTLESS SI SENIORS & THEIR FAMILIES
Last Month House Republicans QUIETLY Passed The First Step For The Biggest Cut To Medicaid In American History - $880 BILLION Or 1/3 Of Medicaid Spending—Which Would Hurt Millions Of New Yorkers Including Up To 182,234 Across Staten Island—MANY OF WHOM ARE IN ELDER CARE, LIKE NURSING HOMES & ASSISTED LIVING
SI Nursing Homes And Rehab Centers Have Medicaid Paying For Patient Care; If House Republicans Don’t Stand Up To Dangerous Medicaid Cuts, Families Would Have To Pick Up The Whole Bill To Keep Loved Ones In Facilities; Many SI Families Would Have No Plan Or The Financial Resources To Take An Elder Loved One Out Of A Nursing Home
Schumer: SI Families Could Be Faced With Bringing Loved Ones Home From Nursing Homes, Other Senior Care Facilities—And Most Have No Idea; If House Republicans Don’t Stand Up To Medicaid Cuts, SI Will Get Crushed
Standing with locals and inpatients at a popular rehab center, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer made an urgent case for House members across NYC to vote “NO” on an upcoming Trump administration plan to fast-track dangerous and sweeping cuts of $880 Billion to Medicaid on Staten Island, and across the nation.
Part of Schumer’s own plan to try and stop these catastrophic cuts centers on localizing the danger of the Medicaid slashing on the Island and showcasing exactly who is facing the worst of the Medicaid decimation: Staten Island’s senior citizens. Specifically, Schumer said that roughly 180,000 people on Medicaid are on Staten Island, and that a large number are seniors who could actually be discharged from local nursing homes, rehab facilities and assisted living care if the current Medicaid cuts desired by the Trump administration pass the House. Schumer explained that once Medicaid is forced to stop paying for senior care in these facilities, and once the facilities exhaust every way possible to keep seniors in place, many families could face a grueling dilemma: pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to keep ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ in care, or move them back home.
“Paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to keep ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ in care at a nursing home or rehab center, or moving them back home is an unacceptable choice for Staten Island families to have to make,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “Neither of these options are good for Staten Island seniors, or their families, and so I demand House GOP members block the Trump administration’s plan to gut Medicaid by $880 BILLION – the biggest cut in history – for what it would do to Staten Island: deliver a quake for senior care across the Island.”
Schumer and local seniors spoke about the cuts now being faced, and said they do not want to experience the possible dilemma of discharge as they put a face to seniors in elder care Medicaid is helping every day.
Schumer explained that $880 billion in Medicaid cuts would slash 1/3rd of federal Medicaid spending and includes taking nurses out of nursing homes. These proposed cuts will jeopardize health care safety for residents living in nursing homes, a number in the millions nationwide. The republican proposal also includes shifting costs to states, limiting their ability to finance their own programs. Pushing costs onto states will result in slashed services, benefits, eligibility and reimbursement rates.
Schumer detailed the scope of Medicaid enrollment throughout the country, and warned that Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of seniors. More than 7 million seniors are enrolled in Medicaid and it is the primary payer for long-term care in the United States. Due to higher rates of chronic conditions and complex health care needs, care for older adults accounts for 20% of total Medicaid spending. Medicaid pays for services for 2 in 3 nursing home residents. Additionally, close to 2 million seniors rely on Medicaid for home- and community-based services.
Reducing Medicaid spending by nearly one-third will have major implications for seniors and people with disabilities. Nearly 1 in 4 Medicaid enrollees are eligible for the program because they are ages 65 and older or have a disability. Proposals to limit federal spending on Medicaid may create incentives for states to drop or reduce their eligibility or coverage for seniors and people with disabilities in response to fewer federal revenues. Loss of Medicaid coverage poses unique challenges for seniors and people with disabilities, people who are likely to live on fixed incomes, have high health care spending, and rely on Medicaid for coverage of long-term care.
Dr. Jennifer Jury McIntosh in an op-ed shared her story on how GOP cuts to Medicaid would hurt her family—without it, her family would have been expected to pay $13,000 a month for nursing home care for her dad. Through the process of placing her dad in nursing home care, she learned that Medicaid is how the majority of America receives skilled nursing care. At the time, in 2019, Medicaid was the primary payer for 59% of nursing home care. As of July 2024, that proportion had risen to 63%.
“The families of many elderly Americans may never imagine they’ll need Medicaid—until they need it,” said Dr. Jennifer Jury McIntosh. “[Slashing Medicaid] would be disastrous for the hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans who live in nursing facilities. The Republicans supporting this bill most likely have or will have family members who depend on Medicaid. It’s wrong of Congress to take an ax to the floor of the boat keeping so many Americans afloat. Slashing Medicaid would be that kind of heartless move.”
“This proposal to decimate Medicaid is not just heartless,” said Schumer. “It will mean dire straits for Staten Island seniors who might face the premise of being kicked out of elder care, forced to move back home with their children, where the expense to retrofit a home for them might be impossible.”
“I think about the families who trust nursing homes to care for their loved ones — the late-night visits, the birthday celebrations, the quiet prayers at bedside. These places are sanctuaries for some of our most vulnerable. Gutting Medicaid would rip that safety net away, leaving our elders at risk and families heartbroken. We have a duty to protect them — not abandon them when they need us most,” said Assemblyman Charles D. Fall.
Silver Lake Specialized Care & Rehab Center on Staten Island, which participates in Medicaid, takes the highest acuity cases and provides both short-term and long-term care including post-surgical rehab, physical disability support, and dementia care.
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