I Think They Are Very Successful Men Who Have Never in Their Lives Had to Even Consider What Invisible Labor Looks Like

Shannon Rosa’s reaction to the Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts is no longer fear or sadness, but fury. “They don’t have any idea what they’re talking about, she said. “I think they are very successful men who have never in their lives had to even consider what invisible labor looks like.

They have no idea. They don’t know anything. The administration last month announced it would withhold $867m in Medicaid funding from California, adding to an earlier $1.34bn halt, for a total of $2.2bn.

Officials are also holding $550m from Minnesota over the past three quarters. The funds cover services states have already paid for, with the federal government normally reimbursing a share, creating budget strain as states continue coverage despite the halt. At a press conference, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said, “We suspect much of the questionable spending involves in-home services.

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz alleged the program “can be abused, claiming services “your family would typically have provided for you. In California, in-home supportive services (IHSS) let Rosa care for her disabled son without an outside job. She is also senior editor at the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism.

For many families, she said, the program is a lifeline, allowing them to provide care or hire a caregiver part-time. Losing it would push families into economic precarity, with caregivers taking extra jobs while disabled relatives go without care. “Without this, people become homeless.

Whatever tiny safety net they had is gone, Rosa said. “It’s just cruel. Home-based services have become “the flashpoint” in fraud accusations, said Andy Schneider of Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

But federal officials haven’t specified what is fraudulent, a highly unusual approach, said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias. “They’re just suspending the funds, and then shifting over to the states the burden to come in and prove that they’ve done everything possible to eliminate what the federal government said is fraud, but they haven’t shown much by way of proof of that, Tobias added. “That part of it, I think, is new, and that’s what is so troubling.

Officials cite increased home-based spending, but growth doesn’t equal fraud, Schneider said. More people prefer home care, caregivers need decent wages, and “the degree of disability in this population now requires more hours of personal care services. Home-based services are also less expensive than institutional care, he noted.

Rosa echoed: “The research is really clear. It’s so much less expensive to keep people in their homes and in the community than it is with institutions. CMS has pushed states for years toward home-based care, but Oz is now reversing that stance.

“It’s substantially a political debate, which seems to be focused on blue states like New York, California, Minnesota, Tobias said. “It’s not happening in the red states. Disabled people and caregivers “are the ones who are going to suffer, he added, noting “the burden falls on the people who need the services, so it’s helpful” for “states to be pushing back as best they can.

States will likely sue, Tobias said, “probably sooner rather than later because I don’t know that they have much choice. But court disputes take time and may not succeed. Minnesota already agreed with CMS to stay proceedings on earlier halts until early September, Schneider said.””””””””””””””””