Deep Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Will Put Most Vulnerable Seniors at Risk
The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding the Senate Budget Resolution:
“The legislation passed by the Senate today is as shameless as it is cruel. Senate leaders made crystal clear who they really care about — and it’s not older Americans.
No amount of accounting gimmicks, delays, or so-called ‘relief funds’ can hide what this bill does. 50 Senators joined Vice President Vance and voted to slash $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act — while handing $1.3 trillion in tax breaks to people making more than $500,000 a year and adding $4 trillion to the national debt.
This bill is an all-out assault on older Americans.
- Medicaid cuts will put 1.4 million nursing home residents in harm’s way. More than half of nursing homes will have to cut staff, and one in four may shut down entirely — leaving families scrambling to care for loved ones.
- Low-income seniors and people with disabilities will pay more for prescription drugs and Medicare premiums, forcing them to choose between health care and other basic needs.
- 6.5 million older Americans could lose food assistance due to a 20% cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
- Drug corporations come out ahead of seniors with a new loophole that prevents Medicare from negotiating lower prices for some high cost prescription drugs.
- Hundreds of hospitals — especially in small towns and rural communities — will close or slash services, forcing Americans of all ages to travel farther and wait longer for care, if they can afford it at all.
- It triggers $490 billion in cuts to Medicare over ten years, which will make it harder for beneficiaries to get the care they need at a price they can afford since doctors and hospitals may curtail services or stop accepting patients with Medicare.
And to top it all off, the reckless tax giveaways will shorten Social Security’s solvency by an entire year — putting the guaranteed benefits Americans earned at even greater risk.
Our members have never been more outraged or more determined. We will hold every senator who voted for this disaster accountable — and we’re putting every member of the House on notice: older Americans are watching how you vote on this cruel, dangerous package.”
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Contact: Lisa Cutler at [email protected]
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