13,000 More Deaths

According to a June 3 letter written by public health economists and researchers, the rolling back of nursing home staff levels could lead to 13,000 preventable deaths.

Various ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, researchers, and other Senate holdings warned that the Trump administration’s budget will result in more than 42,500 deaths annually.

This total death estimate is based on projections of the 7.7 million people who will be losing Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage in 2034.

Approximately 1.38 million low-income families and adults will lose Medicare coverage, while the CMS’ proposed minimum nursing home staffing rule will be repealed as part of the reconciliation bill.

The letter was signed by many MD and PhD holders from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, revealing the estimated number of lives lost based on the effects of the reconciliation bill.

Meanwhile, Maxine Joselow of the New York Times reported that on July 5, the day after the Texas floods hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) received 3,027 calls from survivors and answered 3,018 of them, about 99.7%.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem then refused to renew the contracts for four call center companies that answered those calls.

The staff at the centers were fired. The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or about 35.8%. On Monday, July 7, FEMA received 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, around 15.9%.