From DC is Justice in Growing older’s weekly roundup of nationwide information and assets about points impacting older adults. To obtain From DC in your inbox as quickly as its printed, join our mailing record.
Right here’s what we’re watching in Washington:
Home Stays Centered on Passing Laws to Intestine Medicaid and SNAP
This week, the Republican management and Home Committees met behind closed doorways to attempt to attain consensus on their insurance policies to enact the tax and spending cuts outlined of their funds decision.
Whereas the coverage particulars are nonetheless below wraps, the decision requires unprecedented cuts of greater than $1 trillion from Medicaid, the Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP), and different applications older adults depend on to satisfy their fundamental wants, all to finance tax breaks for companies and the wealthy and to extend dangerous immigration enforcement.
On Thursday, Home leaders introduced that the Power & Commerce Committee will delay its listening to to markup the funds laws that would come with Medicaid cuts till the week of Might twelfth. The Agriculture Committee’s consideration of SNAP cuts can be doubtless delayed. Nonetheless, Speaker Johnson stays dedicated to passing a full funds reconciliation invoice earlier than Memorial Day.
The delay within the markups is because of the relentless efforts of advocates who’re making it clear that any cuts to Medicaid or SNAP will take fundamental well being care and meals help away from older adults, folks with disabilities, and their households.
We should proceed to share tales and knowledge and ask our members of Congress to carry the road and reject any cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, or different fundamental wants applications. Meet along with your native officers on the metropolis, county, and state ranges to coach them on what these applications imply for the older adults you serve, and ask them to relay that message to your Congressional delegation.
Share Justice in Growing older’s assets on Medicaid Protection and the Middle on Price range and Coverage Priorities’ new truth sheet that explains how the mixture of cuts would imply greater prices and fewer assist for older adults, 8 million of whom have incomes beneath the poverty line.
New Evaluation Underscores that Medicaid Work Necessities Would Hurt Older Adults
Congressional Republicans are crafting a coverage to incorporate within the funds reconciliation invoice that will reduce Medicaid by requiring working-age adults to work a sure variety of hours every month to get and preserve protection. This coverage quantities to a job loss penalty, punishing individuals who lose their jobs or can’t work by taking away their well being care.
As our truth sheet explains, work necessities will take away protection from older adults and folks with disabilities who’re already working, those that are retired or have issue discovering work, and household caregivers. Implementing work necessities additionally delays entry to protection for older adults age 65+ by slowing down program administration, together with well timed processing of Medicaid functions.
New evaluation underscores that girls caregivers, a lot of whom are older themselves and caring for older adults, are at specific threat of getting their protection taken away. Amongst adults with Medicaid who are usually not working, 80% are ladies and 25% are age 50 to 64. Nearly all of these ladies left the workforce resulting from caregiving and have little to no earnings.
Further new experiences this week estimate the variety of folks whose Medicaid protection could be reduce below work necessities. In accordance with a report from the Power & Commerce Committee Democrats, the Congressional Price range Workplace estimates that 2.5 million Medicaid enrollees would have their protection taken away. And a Commonwealth Fund report gives state-by-state estimates of projected protection losses, job losses, and financial hurt if Congress enacts a nationwide Medicaid work requirement.
New Government Order Targets Disparate Impression Legal responsibility
Final week, the Trump Administration issued a brand new government order (EO) in search of to finish the usage of disparate influence legal responsibility below federal anti-discrimination legal guidelines.
Disparate influence discrimination happens when a facially impartial coverage or follow leads to an unjustified, unfavorable disparate influence on members of a protected class. Disparate influence legal responsibility is a key civil rights device and a longstanding authorized concept upheld by courts in numerous contexts, together with the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the Honest Housing Act.
Amongst different directives, the EO instructs federal businesses to 1) deprioritize enforcement actions that depend on disparate influence legal responsibility; 2) take steps to vary present rules and steering incorporating disparate influence legal responsibility; and three) decide whether or not any federal authorities preempt state legal guidelines or insurance policies imposing disparate influence legal responsibility.
Justice in Growing older will proceed to watch this EO and others for his or her impacts on older adults.
New Report Highlights Harms of Social Safety Profit Disruptions
In accordance with new evaluation by the City Institute, disruptions in Social Safety advantages would depart about six million folks unable to cowl their fundamental month-to-month dwelling bills. Social Safety advantages financially help retirees, disabled employees, and their dependents.
For the lowest-income beneficiaries, Social Safety accounts for about 75% or extra of their whole earnings. Many of those households have little financial savings to depend on if profit funds had been to be interrupted.
Current actions by the Trump Administration threaten entry to Social Safety for older adults and others. To cease illegal cuts to Social Safety providers, Justice in Growing older, together with co-counsel Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP, filed a lawsuit final month towards the Social Safety Administration (SSA) and DOGE.
The lawsuit alleges that mass staffing reductions, insurance policies requiring people to hunt providers in-person, and the elimination of crucial places of work inside SSA unlawfully hurt older adults and folks with disabilities.
Learn extra in regards to the lawsuit and plaintiffs, and take a look at our truth sheet on why Social Safety is Important to Individuals Nationwide.
New Justice in Growing older Sources
Justice in Growing older Webinars
Justice in Growing older Webinar Recordings
