Video transcript: “One Big Beautiful Bill” threatening crucial care in CNY
Jackson Breslin: Inside her window-lit office, Glenda Criss gives a warning.
Glenda Criss: All of the service providers that support people with disabilities are all Medicaid funded and we’re expecting $13 billion worth of cuts in New York state.
Breslin: Criss is the mother of a son with disabilities —
Criss: Families get faced with this choice,
Breslin: — and senior vice president of care management at Lifeplan CCO – an organization that coordinates care for people whose livelihoods could be changed by the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Criss: Do I work and leave my child home alone where it could potentially be unsafe, do I not work, and stay home with my child, but then how do I pay my bills?
Breslin: The OBBA is set to cut about a trillion dollars in medicaid funding over the next decade, taking away services to what Criss sees as an already vulnerable group.
Criss: And this is the situation families are facing as services get cut.
Breslin: About a third of people with disabilities rely on Medicaid for health coverage. OBBA makes it more difficult to maintain coverage – and can take it away from people who don’t meet rigid work requirements.
Criss: I don’t think necessarily that they are thinking about the impact it will have on people with disabilities.
Breslin: It’s an effort from Republican lawmakers to kick off what they see as “free loaders” taking advantage of the system – but in doing so – Criss says they’re hurting those who need it most.
Criss: They’re trying to make cuts to that, what we know is a very small amount of people that may be using it illegally and yet, not realizing the impact it will have on people with disabilities.
Breslin: An hour or so away from Criss in the rural village of Central Square, there’s a droning, repetitive barrage of thumps. It’s not a faulty heating system or a broken pipe; it’s the weekly boccee ball tournament at the North Country Community Hub.
Courtney Lidke: It’s really helpful for us to have programs like this where we can come together and there’s always something different for us to try out.
Breslin: This program is called Community Connections – it’s a space where individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities can come together and meet. Courtney Lidke is a mentor. She’s been coming to Community Connections for the past few months with her mentee, Max.
Lidke: No other place like this really exists in the community, other than going to the library, so yeah, this is a really great place to be.
Breslin: Lidke and mentors like her are paid through Medicaid. She says they build a bond with the people they work with; the cuts not just affecting those Lidke helps, but her own livelihood.
Lidke: It would really affect a lot of individuals and their families and for me, it would affect everything I do for work.
Breslin: Community Connections founder Dee Kerby says her program could stay open despite the cuts – but without funding for mentors, she says she’s worried nobody could afford to come.
Dee Kerby: We need to, as a community, come together and try and keep programs going. Keeping them involved, keeping them coming, keeping the interaction with others is so important.
Breslin: For now, Kerby says Community Connections will remain – Criss says Lifeplan will as well – but the future of healthcare, they agree, is permanently changed.
Criss: Will we be able to continue to exist? Yes. Will other provider agencies that deliver the services that we coordinate be able to survive? Some will and some won’t, and what will that impact be? A reduction of services.
Breslin: In Central Square, Jackson Breslin, NCC News.
CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – Inside her window-lit office, Glenda Criss shared a warning.
“All of the service providers that support people with disabilities are all Medicaid funded and we’re expecting $13 billion worth of cuts in New York state,” said Criss.
Criss is the mother of a son with disabilities and senior vice president of care management at Lifeplan CCO – an organization that coordinates care for people whose livelihoods could be changed by the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Families get faced with this choice; do I work and leave my child home alone where it could potentially be unsafe, do I not work, and stay home with my child, but then how do I pay my bills?” said Criss. “This is the situation families are facing as services get cut.”
The OBBA is set to cut about a trillion dollars in Medicaid funding over the next decade, taking away services to what Criss sees as an already vulnerable group.
About a third of people with disabilities rely on Medicaid for health coverage. OBBA makes it more difficult to maintain coverage – and can take it away from people who don’t meet rigid work requirements.
“I don’t think necessarily that they are thinking about the impact it will have on people with disabilities,” said Criss
It’s an effort from Republican lawmakers to kick off what they see as “free loaders” taking advantage of the system, but in doing so, Criss says they’re hurting those who need it most.
“They’re trying to make cuts to that, what we know is a very small amount of people that may be using it illegally and yet, not realizing the impact it will have on people with disabilities,” she said.
An hour or so away from Criss, in the rural village of Central Square, there’s a droning, repetitive barrage of thumps. It’s not a faulty heating system or a broken pipe; it’s the weekly bocce ball tournament at the North Country Community Hub.
“It’s really helpful for us to have programs like this where we can come together and there’s always something different for us to try out,” said Courtney Lidke, a mentor who has been coming to the Hub for the past few months with her mentee, Max.
The program is called Community Connections. It’s a space where individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities can come together and meet.
“No other place like this really exists in the community, other than going to the library, so, this is a really great place to be,” said Lidke.
Lidke and mentors like her are paid through Medicaid. She said they build a bond with the people they work with; the cuts not just affecting those Lidke helps, but her own livelihood.
“It would really affect a lot of individuals and their families and for me, it would affect everything I do for work,” said Lidke.
Community Connections founder Dee Kerby says her program could stay open despite the cuts, but without funding for mentors, she is worried nobody could afford to come.
“We need to, as a community, come together and try and keep programs going,” said Kerby. “Keeping them involved, keeping them coming, keeping the interaction with others is so important.”
For now, Kerby says Community Connections will remain – Criss says Lifeplan will as well – but the future of healthcare, they agree, is permanently changed.
“Will we be able to continue to exist? Yes,” Criss said. “Will other provider agencies that deliver the services that we coordinate be able to survive? Some will and some won’t, and what will that impact be? A reduction of services for those who need it most.”