Rep. Sykes Visits Senior Apartments in Cuyahoga Falls to Discuss Medicaid, Medicare Cuts
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — As part of the Day of Action on the 60th anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare, U.S. Representative Emilia Sykes (OH-13) visited the Sutliff II Senior Apartments in Cuyahoga Falls to hear from residents of the senior living facility and to discuss the impacts of the recently passed reconciliation bill, known as the Big Beautiful Bill. Rep. Sykes voted against the bill, which is estimated to cause 15 million people to lose health care coverage through slashing Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, add $3.4 trillion to the national deficit, cause an estimated 5 million Americans to lose nutrition assistance, and add an average of $400 to energy bills annually.
“I believe that our budget is a moral document that reflects what we value. And I value you,” said Rep. Sykes during the visit. “You deserve health care that is affordable and reliable. You deserve to age with dignity and security. And you deserve leaders who listen, who act, and who won’t be bullied into bad policy that hurts the most vulnerable.”
Among the many harmful policies included in this bill, this legislation will be harmful to seniors and disabled individuals by immediately pausing a streamlined eligibility and enrollment rule through 2034, which makes it easier for folks who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid to enroll in these programs. These individuals are known as dual eligible and typically include seniors and disabled people with low-incomes and modest savings whose Medicaid coverage allows them to afford their Medicare premiums and supplements their coverage. For them, Medicare and Medicaid together are an essential lifeline to care that they would not be able to afford otherwise. By making it more difficult to enroll in both, delaying this rule is expected to cut $167 billion in Medicaid spending and cause 1.3 million of these individuals to lose Medicaid coverage, raising costs for our most vulnerable. In Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, about 27,800 individuals are dually eligible, and I will continue to fight for their access to care.