Shaheen hears from Medicaid recipients in Berlin

BERLIN — Some of those who will be most affected by possible cuts to Medicaid got to speak candidly with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) during a rural health roundtable at Northern Human Services in Berlin on Monday as Shaheen kicked off a weeklong "Medicaid Impact Tour."

It comes at a time when the U.S. House is reviewing a budget that may remove as much as $900 billion from key programs that millions of Americans rely on, among them Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

The senator, who is serving her last term in office, attended Monday's roundtable at Northern Human Services’ Willard Street location, where she listened to local residents John, Donald and Grayling speak about how services they’ve received through Crossroads, a program under the umbrella of Northern Human Services, helped them.

The Sun is using only the men’s first names to protect their privacy.

John, who lives near Gorham, spoke of how through services he received he has been able to work part-time as a cleaner. He takes public transportation and counts on his doctor appointments and medicine he receives to keep him moving forward. He said he’s conquering his demons, including recently stopping vaping.

He described people helping him to receive benefits that have made him better.

“I’m very thankful for this agency,” he said of Crossroads.

Without Medicaid support, “people would be lost,” he said.

One woman shared how Medicaid has allowed her daughter, who has Down syndrome, to learn skills and gain some independence.

For a Dalton mother of two older sons on the autism spectrum, the Medicaid payments are making it possible for her two sons to work.

Both women spoke of their need, individually, to work or desire to work. The Medicaid payments and services that help their children also help their respective families as a whole to not just survive but thrive.

Along with Shaheen, area health care providers and administrators plus social service program directors such as North Country Healthcare CEO Thomas Mee, Coos County Family Health Services CEO Ken Gordon, Dr. Brianne Teaboldt and Richard Laflamme, a 42-year-employee of Northern Human Services, took part in the roundtable.

Northern Human Services CEO Suzanne Gaetjens-Oleson hosted the discussion.

About 97 percent of the services and care provided at Northern Human Services is funded by Medicaid, she said. For Coos County Family Health Services, that number is approximately 38 percent and at North Country Healthcare about 15 percent.

Discussion in Washington has included some Medicaid recipients required to work for benefits they receive. Many such recipients do work, and some are caring for family members who cannot work.

“The calculus that it is going to save money is crazy,” Shaheen said. “It’s going to increase costs and pass those to communities and to people who can least afford it.”

New Hampshire’s Coos County accounts for 17.1 percent of Coos County residents receiving Medicaid services or financial assistance.

“Medicaid is a pillar,” Gordon said. “It will have effects across the board.”

Kassie Eafrati, director of behavioral health at Northern Human Services, spoke of the worry caused by the uncertainty of possible Medicaid cuts.

Getting the word out of how Medicaid and other bedrock social service programs impact people’s lives will come from the grassroots or ground up. It will be the first-hand experiences of New Hampshire residents who rely on these programs as part of meeting their daily needs that Shaheen will take back to Washington to advocate for keeping the programs fully funded.

Local legislators may not fully grasp the vital reasons why Medicaid, for one, is crucial to residents’ existence.

“Thank you for listening to us,” said one of the men who receives services.

“Thank you for being able to talk to me,” answered the senator.

Shaheen said before departing for her next stop that the social service program cuts likely will be used for tax cuts to the nation’s wealthiest people or corporations because that is what President Donald Trump did in his first administration.

Shaheen is continuing her "Medicaid Impact Tour" today with a 2:15 p.m. roundtable at Partnership for Public Health, 11 Academy Square, in Laconia. 

Prior to that she will celebrate Earth Day at the Mount Major Trash Clean Up in Alton at 11:15 a.m.