FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Amy Bernard and her brother kept their mother out of a nursing home as long as they could, until Parkinson’s and dementia took their toll and she was seriously injured in a fall.
Bernard is happy with her mother’s nursing home care, but it comes at a steep price: $7,000 per month, an amount that would be way beyond the older woman’s means if not for Medicaid, which picks up $3,000 of the tab.
Which is why Bernard and many other Americans like her are watching the health care debate on Capitol Hill with trepidation.
The Senate Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act would cut projected Medicaid spending over the next decade by 25 percent.
Supporters of the bill say nursing home subsidies would not suffer significant cuts, but opponents say they are inevitable. The uncertainty is frustrating to those who rely on them.