A Devastating Budget For Caregiving Families - Caring Across Generations

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A Devastating Budget For Caregiving Families

May 24th, 2017

Category:

Updates

This week’s release of the administration’s full budget proposal showcased a full-scale attack on family caregivers and the people we care for — our elders, children and extended families — by destroying the foundational investments our country has made in our current and future health and well-being.

Here’s just a sampling of what the Administration put on the chopping block:

  • Health coverage for 35 million Americans by slashing $610 billion from Medicaid over the next decade (on top of $839 billion proposed by the repeal of ACA);
  • 219 million meals delivered to 2.4 million of our elders who would otherwise go hungry by eliminating Meals on Wheels (which, by the way, saves roughly $34 billion in costs for falls and injuries every year);
  • Benefits for millions of people with disabilities by slashing $72 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) (which is also a direct contradiction of the Trump campaign pledge not to cut Social Security);
  • Critical medical research for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by cutting 20 percent, or $6 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and nearly 20 percent, or $1.3 billion in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Interventions for the next year;
  • Health coverage for millions of children by cutting 20 percent in funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the next two years;
  • Child care for millions of families by limiting eligibility requirements for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

This budget is a clear expression of the Administration’s values, in which giveaways to corporations and the wealthy are paid for by robbing the investments we, as a country, make in building strong families. The cruelty on display is breathtaking, to say nothing of this budget’s fundamental irresponsibility. The demographic realities of our country demand increased, thoughtful investments in making living longer with dignity a reality for all of us, and in enabling caregivers to have the freedom, flexibility and support we need to be there for our loved ones.

Instead, the Administration’s budget would effectively:

Slash care and strip away the independence of our loved ones who are aging and/or have disabilities
Trump’s budget slashes hundreds of billions from Medicaid, a cornerstone that provides care and support to more than 70 million Americans. Millions of older Americans are only able to access long-term care through Medicaid — whether in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or at home. Critically, Medicaid is the nation’s largest provider of home care, enabling those of us who are getting older or have disabilities to remain independent and connected to our communities. Gutting Medicaid will also blow holes through state budgets and force them to make tough decisions about who to take health care, long-term care, or in-home care away from.

Undercut, rather than invest in, support for women and children
The majority of people who need to take paid leave do so to care for themselves or for a sick family member and women make up the majority of this population. Only 25 percent of people who use paid leave do so for new births. The paid leave benefit included in this budget is aimed only at people taking leave for new births or adoption (excluding leave for caring for aging relatives, a family member with an urgent medical need, or for our own health-related issues), offers a paltry six weeks of leave, and pays for it by undermining key family cornerstones like Medicaid, SSDI, CHIP, the CTC, and the EITC. In the midst of soaring childcare costs, this budget cuts an artery and then offers a band-aid.

Fuel inequality and weaken our future security
Families need support to achieve the freedom and flexibility to be there for our loved ones when then need us. This budget stands in direct contradiction to what our families need the most to survive. It eliminates Meals on Wheels and slashes funding for food stamps, both of which provide direct support to people who have worked hard and played by the rules. For example, sixty percent of food stamp recipients work, and the remainder are people with disabilities and elders who have aged into poverty. This budget takes their meagre support and hands it over to corporations, millionaires, and billionaires. Caring Across Generations strongly opposes this budget proposal and urges all members of Congress to reject it.