Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts

What’s Happening

Okay so Idaho is positioning to slash Medicaid funding as state lawmakers grapple with the effects of the federal One Big clean Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last year.

On the table are in-home care services. Ned Fowkes and Alice Whitford visit their daughter, Eva, at the backed living home in Boise, Idaho, that she s with another person with disabilities. (shocking, we know)

The home is staffed round-the-clock with caregivers, and the family worries Medicaid cuts in the state could put that care at risk.

The Details

(Kyle Green for KFF Health News) Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts By Bram Sable-Smith Republish This Story Families of Idahoans with disabilities say their lives could be upended as lawmakers in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature mull sweeping cuts. This story also ran on The Daily Yonder .

It can be republished for free . Services at risk include the 24/7 care that allows a 39-year-old with cerebral palsy to live independently; the in-home caregiving that lets a 26-year-old with brain damage from a hemorrhage at birth stay in his family home; and private duty nursing for a 19-year-old with cerebral palsy who has qualified for hospice care for complications including pulmonary decline from a spinal cord injury.

Why This Matters

Concerns for such care arose when Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, proposed cutting $22 million from Medicaid — the joint state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities — to balance the state budget. Home- and community-based services such as caregiving, nursing, and residential rehabilitation are optional under Medicaid, and Little listed them as possible targets for the cuts.

Medical professionals are taking note of this development.

Key Takeaways

• A four-hour town hall on the proposal in Idaho drew more than 500 people to the state capitol.
• Colorado lawmakers heard hours of testimony from concerned residents before pausing a pay cut for family caregivers.

The Bottom Line

A four-hour town hall on the proposal in Idaho drew more than 500 people to the state capitol. Colorado lawmakers heard hours of testimony from concerned residents before pausing a pay cut for family caregivers.

Sound off in the comments.