[Editorial]
Have you noticed that the Trump administration is going after care for minorities?
First, it was getting the homeless off the streets in Washington, D.C. Now it is the disabled. Home care has revolutionized the lives of senior citizens. No longer do they have to be institutionalized in nursing homes; they can live in their own homes. But that program is being cut.
The latest attack is focused on home care for the mentally and physically disabled. It is cheaper to institutionalize them. What the Trump administration is trying to do is what Project 2025 said to do: do away with federal mandates, like the number of nurses required per patient. Instead, they want to throw a block of money at the states with no strings attached and say, “Go to it!”
Justice in AgingMarch 4, 2026Last July, Congress voted to pass the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025 (H.R. 1) and enact the largest Medicaid cuts in history. For months before the vote, advocates, older adults, and people with disabilities repeatedly warned lawmakers that cutting federal Medicaid funding would put home and community-based services (HCBS) first on the chopping block. But lawmakers took to the airwaves dismissing these claims, asserting they were only cutting “wasteful” spending, and promising that key Medicaid programs, including HCBS, would be protected and even strengthened as they cut federal Medicaid funding to states by $1 trillion. This was always an empty promise.Medicaid’s coverage of HCBS is not a luxury. For most people, it’s the only option for at-home care. HCBS help with everyday activities like dressing, bathing, cooking, and taking medications that allow older adults and people with disabilities to remain at home and part of their communities. HCBS save money too, relieving costs for families who can’t afford to pay for care out of pocket and avoiding far more expensive institutional care that Medicaid would otherwise have to pay for. Research shows people who need but don’t receive HCBS are far more likely to have to go into nursing facilities.
At the same time, they are driving seniors out of their homes and into long-term care (LTC) facilities, such as nursing homes. The Center for Medicare Advocacy reports that;
LTC) facilities such are nursing homes. The Center for Medicare Advocacy reports that;
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) repeals the 2024 nurse staffing rule, specifically, the numerical staffing requirements (3.48 hours per resident day, divided among various categories of nurses) and the requirement for registered nurses 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The numerical requirement reflected a modest change and would have required additional staffing, primarily in nursing homes that have the lowest nurse staffing levels. The registered nurse requirement reflected a recommendation made by experts for many decades.The staffing rule was a key component of a comprehensive nursing home reform agenda in 2022. The rule and reform agenda responded to the hundreds of thousands of residents and staff who died during the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing problems in nursing homes that could not be ignored. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania calculated that implementation of the final staffing rule would save 13,000 residents’ lives each year and reduce residents’ adverse health outcomes.
It is a squeeze play, forcing seniors and the mentally and physically disabled out of their homes and into institutions while, at the same time, cutting staffing!
NPR in "They grew up with disability rights. Now, they're fighting to keep them" talks about how disability rights are once again under attack;
And in 1999, the year Cody was born, the Supreme Court handed down the Olmstead decision. It reinforced the ADA's integration mandate, which says people with disabilities should get to learn, live and work in their communities rather than in institutions. The government made that promise after people with disabilities fought against segregation in institutions, which have a long history of abuse and neglect."That affects everything," said Kaleigh. "The integrated setting affects school. It affects where you can work. It affects community-based programs like what my brother uses."Now, the integration mandate — and an entire system of community-based disability services that more than 8 million Americans rely on — are being challenged.
The Trump adminstration is running it like a business: minimize costs, maximize profits! And not like a government that cares about its citizens.
[/Editorial]
