Don’t Deprive Low-Income Seniors of Critical Care and Aid

Target: Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Goal: Expand Medicaid approval to cover more people and services.

Most of the recent headlines concerning Medicaid (the federal healthcare assistance service for mostly low-income Americans) have centered on the potential loss of up to 15 million people from the service after pandemic-era extensions expire. But countless more could lose out on essential coverage because of critical gaps in the approval process for recipients and for covered services alike. The most vulnerable elderly Americans stand to lose the most.

For one, the approval process for individuals seeking Medicaid assistance can be notoriously slow, sometimes preventing Americans in need from meeting crucial deadlines for enrollment. Furthermore, a series of questionable decisions have specifically blocked seniors from important and often life-saving treatments and services. In what was billed as a cost-saving maneuver, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed blocking coverage for an important group of medications that treat dementia. More recently, several assisted living facilities have reportedly been kicking Medicaid recipients out of their residences after promising these people that they would have a long-term home. These moves are made possible because, unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities are not overseen or held to account by any government agency. And Medicaid has never approved non-medical home care services that provide millions of seniors with companionship and day-to-day living aid during their golden years.

Sign the petition below to demand the center responsible for handling essential Medicaid services do everything in its power to help make every American’s golden years healthy and secure.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure,

A recent report detailing the uncertainty faced by the nearly four-and-a-half million Americans—mostly senior citizens—receiving long-term care under Medicaid was troubling to say the least. Many of these individuals entrust their care to assisted living facilities that urged them to drain their life savings in return for the security of Medicaid down the road. Now, these very same facilities want to essentially kick their Medicaid-dependent residents into the streets. And because these organizations have no government oversight, they are free to destroy lives for their own gain.

This narrative needs to change. Not only should assisted living facilities be forced to meet the same standards as nursing homes, but all components of senior home care should be elevated in importance and consideration. Please advocate for enhancing and expanding coverage for all of these forms of care that will become even more important as the large Baby Boomer generation continues to age. Moreover, treatments covered should be expanded, not shrunk. The proposal to limit coverage for certain dementia medications and the overall stagnation of Medicaid approval for fast-track drugs (that could save countless lives when time is truly of the essence) represent a dangerous trajectory that in the name of cutting corners and costs could also cut lifespans. If any portion of Medicaid should be streamlined, it is the approval process for potential recipients because unwarranted delays and lags prevent Americans from accessing needed care.

Please take all of these concerns under consideration and push for a more inclusive approval and a more robust oversight process that works for, not against, the most vulnerable populations.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

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