NWLC Report Highlights Devastating Impact of Medicaid Cuts on Direct Care Workforce

Washington, DC (April 4) – As the Senate prepares to vote on their reconciliation bill that would cut Medicaid, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) released a new report exposing what would happen to the direct care workforce if congressional Republicans follow through with these drastic cuts. 

📖 Read the full report: Medicaid Cuts Threaten the Direct Care Workforce

“In order to fund tax breaks for billionaires, congressional Republicans are planning to slash Medicaid—gutting an already fragile system of care for aging and disabled people,” said Veronica Faison, counsel at NWLC and co-author of the report. “As our report shows, any Medicaid cuts would drive down wages in an already underfunded industry, pushing essential care workers out of their jobs and leaving millions of people without the care that they desperately need.”

Key Findings:

  • Medicaid is the primary funding source for home and community-based services (HCBS), which allow people to receive long-term care in their homes rather than institutions.
  • Cuts to Medicaid will completely destabilize the long-term care industry—forcing states to slash long-term care to make up for an unprecedented budget shortfall. Home and community-based services, categorized as “optional ” for states to cover under Medicaid, will likely be one of the first items on the chopping block.
  • Medicaid cuts could decrease wages for the already-low paid home care and direct care workforce, or eliminate many of their jobs completely—decimating access for the more than 4.2 million people who use Medicaid long-term services and supports in home and community settings.
  • Furthermore, many direct care workers are double reliant on Medicaid not only for their pay, but also for their own health care. Twenty-seven percent of women direct care workers under 65 depend on Medicaid for their own health insurance—compared to just 10% of the general workforce.

Medicaid cuts don’t just threaten jobs—they threaten lives. The direct care workforce is a lifeline for millions, and slashing Medicaid would push this vital system to the brink of collapse.