Statement of the National Senior Citizens Law Center

Protecting Medicaid from draconian budget cuts is essential to protecting the health and well-being of the nation’s elderly. The vital safety net it provides serves millions of low-income older adults every day and is the single largest source of long-term care coverage. For 14 million seniors and people with disabilities, Medicaid is the only source of assistance for the long-term services and supports they need.

The proposal by Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) released yesterday to block grant the program and to make huge cuts to the federal share will have drastic results:

• Many elderly will be denied coverage altogether and have their health placed at serious risk.
   
• It will force the spouses and other family members of people who currently rely on Medicaid for nursing facility care to exhaust their savings and sink into poverty.
   
• Many current recipients of Medicaid’s home and community-based care coverage will be forced into institutions.

Medicaid provides essential long-term care and protections against growing Medicare premiums and cost-sharing for the elderly poor, generally those with annual incomes below $15,000. And, for eight million primarily low-income elderly, it combines with Medicare to provide payment for long term services and supports as well as basic health care.

While the current budget climate demands that leaders make smart fiscal decisions in solving deficit problems, taking health care away from America’s most vulnerable older adults and people with disabilities is not the answer. They did not create the current budget mess and they are not to blame for the current deficit.

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The National Senior Citizens Law Center is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to protect the rights of low-income older adults. Through advocacy, litigation, and the education and counseling of local advocates, we seek to ensure the health and economic security of those with limited income and resources, and access to the courts for all. For more information, visit our Web site at www.NSCLC.org.