WASHINGTON, July 28 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), will hold a press conference with nursing home leaders and providers from across the country to raise the alarm about the disastrous impact of nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’
“Just a few weeks ago, President Trump signed into law a bill that provides the largest tax break to billionaires in American history and the largest cut to Medicaid in American history,” Sanders said. “At a time when Medicaid provides the funding for nearly 60% of seniors who live in nursing homes and is the primary source of funding for home health care in America, this bill will be a disaster for elderly Americans throughout the country.”
The United States already faces a severe shortage of long-term care for aging seniors. In 2023, 55% of nursing homes turned away prospective residents due to staffing and funding shortfalls. Nationally, over 700,000 Americans remain on Medicaid waitlists for long-term home care. The cuts to Medicaid and health care funding in Republicans’ reconciliation bill will only make this worse: Nursing homes will close or downsize; states will be forced to reduce payment rates and will expose nursing homes to uncompensated costs. As a result, many nursing homes may convert long-term care beds to higher-paying post-acute care beds — or shut down altogether.
Home- and community-based agencies are also likely to close their doors or reduce capacity, leaving seniors and their families — in Vermont and across the country — scrambling to find safe, appropriate care for their loved ones. It will force family caregivers, mostly women, to drop out of the workforce and will likely shorten older Americans’ lives.
“It has been estimated that this legislation could cause more than a quarter of nursing homes in America, which were already struggling financially, to close their doors altogether, while more than half will be forced to substantially reduce their staff. That would be absolutely unacceptable. We should be making it easier for seniors to receive the care they need, not harder,” Sanders continued. “We must repeal these disastrous cuts to Medicaid and reverse Trump’s tax breaks for the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations in America. You don’t give tax breaks to billionaires while making massive cuts to programs that our seniors desperately need. Every member of Congress who voted for this absurd bill must be held accountable.”
Sanders will be joined by nursing home and long-term care providers and leaders including: the CEO of LeadingAge, a national association of more than 5,400 nonprofit aging services providers in 41 states; the CEO of A.G. Rhodes Nursing Homes, who runs three nursing homes in Georgia; and the CEO of Center Circle Adult Day Services in Virginia.
Details
What: Press conference on the impact of Medicaid cuts in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on America’s seniors
Who:
When: Wednesday, July 30, 1 p.m.
Where: Washington, D.C. Location available upon RSVP.