Representative Tran Leads Effort to Restore $1 Billion in Funding for Home Care in California
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Derek Tran (CA-45), along with California Democratic Congressional Delegation Chair Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), and Representative Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Representatives Doris Matsui (CA-07), led members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation in urging Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz to reverse a decision to defer $1.1 billion in federal funding for California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
Read the full letter HERE.
“Medi-Cal is the primary payer and often the only option for low-income older adults and people with disabilities to receive the care they need. Reducing access to IHSS and other HCBS threatens the health and financial stability of seniors, adults with disabilities, and children as well as the providers who care for them,” the members wrote.
IHSS serves more than 900,000 Californians through providing critical daily support, including personal care, meal preparation, and medical assistance. Without this support, individuals could be forced into more costly institutional care or homelessness. The letter calls on HHS to immediately restore funding to protect access to essential Medicaid services.
Representative Tran remains committed to lowering the cost of essential health care and ensuring that every member of his community can receive the medical care they need. He has led the fight to lower prescription drug prices through the PBM Reform Act, which would reform pharmacy benefit managers' (PBMs) practices and increase transparency and accountability of PBM operations. Tran signed a letter to House Leadership urging the permanent extension of premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, and cosponsored the Protecting Healthcare and Lowering Costs Act, to codify those tax credits in law. Tran voted against dismantling access to affordable health care and signed a discharge petition in the House to bring the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act to the House floor for a vote. Tran co-led H.R. 4641, the Keep Kids Covered Act, with Representative Kathy Castor (FL-14), which would reduce the cost of healthcare for parents by ensuring continuous healthcare coverage for all children enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The text of the full letter is below:
Dear Administrator Oz:
As members of the California Congressional Delegation, we write to express strong opposition to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) extreme and unprecedented action to defer $1.1 billion in federal funding tied to California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
IHSS is a type of state and federally Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) that enables eligible seniors, adults with disabilities, and children to remain safely in their own homes rather than in an institutional setting, like a nursing facility. The IHSS program currently serves over 900,000 Californians who rely on the services to support their activities of daily life, such as bathing, dressing, cooking, cleaning, medication administration, accompaniment to medical appointments, and protective supervision for those who
require 24-hour supervision.
CMS has targeted California’s IHSS program and other HCBS programs across the country by using claims of “waste, fraud, and abuse” as a smoke screen to rip health care away from millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid-funded HCBS.4,5 The undersigned Members agree that there should be efforts to combat waste, fraud,and abuse to ensure bad actors are held accountable. If the Trump Administration were serious about addressing fraud, it would take actions based on evidence, according to federal law, and aimed at improving program integrity. Yet CMS has chosen to defer significant funds for these services across the board, which will impact all recipients and providers. CMS’ primary basis for fraud claims is the growth in California’s IHSS expenditures, when in fact the state of California has provided reasonable explanations for this growth in spending as a result of intentional and purposeful investments to ensure care for this population.
In addition, Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration are harming patients through $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and undermining actual efforts to fight fraud, including the Administration’s decision to fire at least 17 inspectors general, including the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Medi-Cal is the primary payer and often the only option for low-income older adults and people with disabilities to receive the care they need. Reducing access to IHSS and other HCBS threatens the health and financial stability of seniors, adults with disabilities, and children as well as the providers who care for them. This funding deferral could force the state to reduce IHSS services, increasing the risk of people forced into homelessness or institutional care settings, both of which are far more expensive to the federal government. We urge CMS to reverse course and immediately restore the IHSS funds, protecting seniors and people with disabilities as well as the caregivers who support them.
Sincerely,
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