Trump’s Medicaid cuts threaten to upend families caring for disabled relatives

Key Points:

• Melissa Gonce, a Maryland mother, is paid through a Medicaid program to care full-time for her profoundly disabled son, Jason, which has improved his health and stability but faces significant wage and hour cuts due to state budget reductions.
• The recent federal spending package signed by President Trump includes about $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade, prompting states like Maryland to reduce funding for home- and community-based services, including paid family caregiving programs.
• Advocates warn that cutting paid family caregiving threatens to destabilize essential services for millions of elderly and disabled Americans, potentially forcing families to place loved ones in costly institutional care.
• Conservative policymakers have raised concerns about fraud and misuse in Medicaid-funded family caregiving programs, leading to increased scrutiny and calls for cuts, despite oversight measures and evidence that family care can save money by reducing hospitalizations.
• Families nationwide, such as those in Maryland, Colorado, and Nebraska, face difficult decisions as wage reductions and caps on caregiving hours jeopardize their ability to provide necessary in-home care, forcing some to consider costly alternatives or financial sacrifices.