A proposed $900 billion cut to Medicaid would put long-term care at risk for thousands of seniors in mid-Michigan, according to U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City).
At a press conference Friday at Village of Hampton Meadows in Bay City, McDonald Rivet said the cuts, passed as part of a House Republican budget plan last month, would force seniors out of nursing homes, close rural hospitals and shift costs to local governments.
“Local communities, whether we're talking about our city governments, our county governments, do not have the resources to pick up this enormous burden,” she said. “If the federal government decides to make these kinds of cuts into our Medicaid system, it's just not financially realistic.”
The Republican-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, passed in the U.S. House in May, proposes steep reductions in Medicaid funding over the next decade. Supporters say the plan is meant to rein in federal spending and improve program efficiency. It includes provisions to tighten eligibility rules, curb fraud and give states more control over how Medicaid dollars are used. GOP leaders say the changes would extend tax relief for families and businesses, support economic growth and reduce long-term costs.
But McDonald Rivet said the impact would be especially severe in communities like those in her district, where over 225,000 people rely on Medicaid, including 20,000 seniors.
“Medicaid is vital to our community, vital to our seniors, vital to families and is the thing that actually powers our rural hospitals,” she said. “We cannot withstand $900 billion of cuts.”
She said that Medicaid made it possible for her own mother to pass away at home, surrounded by family, and said many others depend on the program for in-home or nursing care.
Speakers at the event included Roger Myers, President and CEO of Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, Monica Freier, Interim Executive Director of the Region VII Area Agency on Aging and Bay County Executive Jim Barcia.
Myers and Freier said that Medicaid cuts would reduce quality of care and threaten cost-saving programs like the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver program. Barcia said Medicaid reductions would place broader financial strain on hospitals, long-term care and local governments.
“Home care through the MI Choice Medicaid waiver program costs less than statewide cost, less than half of nursing home care,” Freier said. “Long-term care placements, home care keeps families together, preserves dignity and saves taxpayer dollars.”
Kathy Rouster, a Medicaid waiver participant from Saginaw, also spoke at the event. She said she relies on oxygen support and a sleep device to stay alive, and that without Medicaid, she wouldn’t be able to remain in her home of nine years.
“What would it mean to you to have to leave your home?” Rouster said. “Devastated. I’ve been there. I love my home...There’s no reason to cut out Medicaid. No reason at all. We all need the Medicaid to stay alive.”
McDonald Rivet said she voted against the plan in the House and said she will keep opposing Medicaid cuts as the proposal moves to the Senate.
“There is room in Medicaid to eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape,” she said. “There is no plan to actually do those things. This is just a whole scale cut and pushing an enormous financial burden onto the states...this isn't about reform to make it easier for seniors. This is about taking care away.”
