Congressman Hank Johnson blasts GOP Medicaid cuts, attack on safety net for poor and elderly

DEKALB COUNTY, GA – On Thursday(Feb. 20), Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) held a press conference at a senior care facility in South DeKalb to highlight the impact of House Republicans’ drastic pending cuts to Medicaid. 

Congressman Johnson was joined by Nadine Johnson(no relation), Director of Care One Franchise, Inc. (COFI); residents and family members who receive care at COFI; and Protect Our Care Georgia State Director, Joe Binns in raising  the alarm about the pending cuts to the social safety net for the poor and elderly. 

“President Trump and House Republicans promised they would lower costs for everyday Americans,” Rep. Johnson said. “They lied. Instead, they just announced a new push to cut Medicaid and take health care away from kids, parents, and seniors. The Trump-Musk-House Republican budget includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid and food assistance for kids, seniors, and veterans.”

Nadine Johnson, whose residents depend on Medicaid to help receive her services at her senior care facility, located in the city of Stonecrest, said cuts to Medicaid would deeply impact the community. 

“If we’re not able to access the supplemental funding from Medicaid that we receive now, we’d have to close our business,” she said. “And that would mean many more seniors and disabled individuals would be facing homelessness. It would wreak havoc in our communities.”

“The consequences of cuts to Medicaid would touch nearly every household in America including people in this room today,” said Binns. “Medicaid provides health care to over 72 million people — six in 10 nursing home residents, 30 million children, 9 million adults with disabilities, and 14 million adults with mental illness. If they slash Medicaid, it will wreak havoc on state budgets and services. Rural Hospitals will close and the Americans who rely on them will be left behind. America’s skyrocketing mental health crisis will be exacerbated, and the nation’s maternal health crisis will get significantly worse.”