Donald Trump and maga Republicans are causing harm to the poor and aged by cutting Medicaid just so the rich can get a another tax cut

Medicaid cuts threaten the foundation of community care.

Echo opinion letter published in the Culpeper Star-Exponent newspaper, in Virginia, by Janis Rieley.

As the Chair of the Board overseeing Encompass Community Supports, I am writing to express deep concern over the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Department of Health and Human Services draft budget. 

These damaging proposals threaten to unravel the support systems sustaining some of our most vulnerable neighbors.

The draft HHS budget includes the elimination of important aging and social services programs such as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Section 202 Housing for the Elderly (combines 202 into a block grant with other programs which jeopardizes targeted support).

For decades, our organization served as a vital safety net for older adults, people with disabilities, and individuals facing behavioral health challenges. Medicaid is not just a funding source for these programs—it is the lifeline that ensures low-income seniors can manage their health, that adults with mental health challenges can access medication and counseling, and that caregivers can get the respite they need to keep going.

In our Virginia community, many residents rely on Medicaid-funded services, every day. Cuts to this essential program will not only endanger their health and dignity but will also push more people into crisis—into emergency rooms, nursing homes, and jails—all of which are far more expensive, less compassionate, and ultimately unsustainable alternatives.

Medicaid and aging programs help older adults to age in place, a proven, cost-effective strategy supported by decades of research. Medicaid also helps individuals with developmental disabilities live independently and with dignity in their communities. "Encompass’ Leaflin Lane", a subsidized senior living apartment for people over 62, with very low income, was made possible through Section 202 Housing.

Our cargiving dedicated staff and community partners work tirelessly to stretch every Medicaid dollar and do so while responding to growing needs. But, we cannot do more with less. Funding cuts do not eliminate needs; they shift costs to families, hospitals, and local governments, who are often ill-equipped to bear them.

We urge our state and federal lawmakers to remember the faces behind the numbers: the grandmother who wants to stay in her home, the adult son caring for his father with dementia, the young adult recovering from addiction who finally found hope in community-based treatment. These are not line items—they are lives.

Investing in home based and non-profit community care are not only the right thing to do, but also the fiscally responsible thing to do. Call your Senators and Congressional delegaton today. Please plead with them to protect Medicaid and programs that support older Americans and people with disabilities. (Maine Writer note- Although the Trumpziism "Big Ugly Bill" has been signed into law, the Congress can still pass legislation to mitigate the harmful impact of cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Nutrition - SNAP, and Medicare.)

A budget that works for all ensures that aging, disability, or mental health challenges never means being left behind.