Possible cuts worry those in nursing homes

News from state leaders that thousands of senior citizens in Louisiana could lose Medicaid benefits that pay for nursing home care is of great concern to seniors in St. Mary Parish, area officials said.

Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals began sending notices Thursday to 37,000 elderly and disabled people, many of them in nursing homes, that the money paying for their care may go away in July.

As of about noon Thursday, Beverly Domengeaux, executive director of St. Mary Council on Aging, said she hadn’t received word that any local seniors had officially received the letters.

But many of them and their family members have heard and read about the possible cuts to Medicaid, including nursing home services.

“We’ve had quite a few phone calls,” Domengeaux said.

St. Mary Parish doesn’t have any public housing that’s specifically designated for senior citizens.

“There’s no place for these people to go in order to receive care,” Domengeaux said. “(The) nursing home is the only place, really and truly, that they can go with their Medicaid card.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration announced the letters would be sent out after the House approved the 2018-19 fiscal year budget that cut Medicaid spending. The Senate hasn’t approved the budget.

Republicans slammed the move as fear-mongering by the state's Democratic governor amid ongoing budget and tax negotiations.

Edwards’ administration has said for months the notices would be sent because lawmakers haven’t replaced temporary taxes that expire July 1. Edwards intends to call a special session later this month, hoping lawmakers will agree to pass replacement taxes to prevent the cuts.

The St. Mary Council on Aging would have a difficult time trying to help everyone who could be affected by the cuts. Domengeaux figured the cuts would increase the need for the Council on Aging’s services by 7 percent, and the organization already has limited funding.

“I’m not even able to take care of all the people that want the services now,” Domengeaux said.

But the Council on Aging will do what it can to serve the seniors of St. Mary Parish, she said.

“We’re going to do the best we can with what we’ve got, and we’re going to try to take care of as many as we can,” Domengeaux said.

Morgan City Health Care Center hadn’t received any of the notices as of mid-morning Thursday, Business Office Manager Tiffany Rodrigue said.

“We’re definitely waiting to see if we get anything,” Rodrigue said.

A few residents at the center have expressed concerns over what may happen to their Medicaid benefits.

“They’re not really talking about it a whole lot. But a couple of them, they do have concerns of what’s going to happen,” Rodrigue said.

“What’s really sad is that some individuals here, they don’t have family,” Rodrigue said. “You worry about what’s going to happen if (state officials) come back, and they say that (residents) don’t qualify for Medicaid.”

Rodrigue and other staff members have watched the news closely in regard to how potential Medicaid cuts could affect residents.

“I just don’t see how they can do this,” Rodrigue said. “Our older population, they’re the ones that have us where we are today, so how can you do something like that?”

The potential cuts don’t affect Maison Jardin Senior Living Community in Morgan City, according to staff members at that facility.

Melinda Deslatte of the Associated Press contributed to this report.