WATCH: “Kristen McDonald Rivet is leading the fight against proposed Medicaid cuts” [WEYI]

As Washington Republicans work to cut Medicaid and jeopardize health care for Michiganders, Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet is fighting back.

Congresswoman McDonald Rivet joined mid-Michigan seniors to raise awareness about how Republicans’ dangerous cuts to Medicaid hurt Michiganders who rely on the program.

While Washington Republicans prioritize slashing health care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, McDonald Rivet puts mid-Michiganders first.

Watch / read more:

WEYI: “Kristen McDonald Rivet is leading the fight against proposed Medicaid cuts.” 

WEYI: “She says roughly 250,000 people in this area, including more than 20,000 seniors, rely on Medicaid for their health care. McDonald Rivet adds the budget plan that House Republicans passed would kick Michiganders off their health care and force hospitals and nursing homes to shut down.”

WEYI: “Congresswoman McDonald Rivet, who is a Democrat, says her Republican colleagues want to cut Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.”

WNEM: “Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet condemning proposed federal cuts to Medicaid… McDonald Rivet says the budget passed by House Republicans slashes Medicaid by more than $800 billion.”

McDonald Rivet: “I do think that there is room in Medicaid to eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape and how hard it is to navigate. There is no plan to actually do those things [in this bill]. Those cuts will kick 30,000 people right here in mid-Michigan off of health insurance, risk the closure of rural hospitals, and raise health care costs for everybody.”

WCMU: ‘It’s just not financially realistic’: McDonald Rivet speaks out against proposed Medicaid cuts

• A proposed $900 billion cut to Medicaid would put long-term care at risk for thousands of seniors in mid-Michigan, according to U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City).
• …McDonald Rivet said the cuts, passed as part of a House Republican budget plan last month, would force seniors out of nursing homes, close rural hospitals and shift costs to local governments.
• “Local communities, whether we’re talking about our city governments, our county governments, do not have the resources to pick up this enormous burden,” she said. “If the federal government decides to make these kinds of cuts into our Medicaid system, it’s just not financially realistic.”
• But McDonald Rivet said the impact would be especially severe in communities like those in her district, where over 225,000 people rely on Medicaid, including 20,000 seniors.
• “Medicaid is vital to our community, vital to our seniors, vital to families and is the thing that actually powers our rural hospitals,” she said. “We cannot withstand $900 billion of cuts.”
• She said that Medicaid made it possible for her own mother to pass away at home, surrounded by family, and said many others depend on the program for in-home or nursing care.
• Speakers at the event included Roger Myers, President and CEO of Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, Monica Freier, Interim Executive Director of the Region VII Area Agency on Aging and Bay County Executive Jim Barcia.
• Myers and Freier said that Medicaid cuts would reduce quality of care and threaten cost-saving programs like the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver program. Barcia said Medicaid reductions would place broader financial strain on hospitals, long-term care and local governments.
• Kathy Rouster, a Medicaid waiver participant from Saginaw, also spoke at the event. She said she relies on oxygen support and a sleep device to stay alive, and that without Medicaid, she wouldn’t be able to remain in her home of nine years.
• McDonald Rivet said she voted against the plan in the House and said she will keep opposing Medicaid cuts as the proposal moves to the Senate.
• “There is room in Medicaid to eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape,” she said. “There is no plan to actually do those things. This is just a whole scale cut and pushing an enormous financial burden onto the states…this isn’t about reform to make it easier for seniors. This is about taking care away.”

WNEM: Mid-Michigan lawmaker speaks out against Medicaid cuts

• Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet spoke out against federal cuts to Medicaid in a press conference in Bay City today.
• McDonald-Rivet spoke at the Village of Hampton Meadows Friday, June 20 to highlight how proposed cuts to Medicaid could hurt residents and nursing homes.
• “Medicaid is lifeline for so many people, not just here but across the country,” the congresswoman said. “Nearly a quarter of a million people in mid-Michigan rely on Medicaid for their health care including tens of thousands of seniors.”
• McDonald-Rivet said the budget plan passed by House Republicans slashes Medicaid by more than 800 billion dollars which will kick Michiganders off their health care and force hospitals and nursing homes to shut down.
• “I do think there is room in Medicaid to eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape and how hard it is to navigate there is no plan to actually do those things,” McDonald-Rivet said. “Those cuts would kick 30,000 people right here in mid-Michigan off of health insurance risk the closure of rural hospitals and raise healthcare costs for everybody.”
• The House passed budget bill is now up for consideration in the Senate. At least four Republican Senators have publicly raised concerns that Medicaid cuts could hurt their constituents.
• A new report from Senate Republicans in the Finance Committee show the GOP plans to expand cuts to the Medicaid spending by as much as $1 trillion over a decade. That’s $200 million more than the House version.

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