Ebony Rose, a member of CSEA Local 1000/AFSCME, has been a discharge planner at the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, New York, for 16 years. Her job is to make sure ECMC patients have the support they need once they finish treatment and return to their communities.
A number of the patients she helps are on Medicaid. Reckless budget cuts proposed by anti-union extremists in Congress — including slashing Medicaid — to cut taxes for billionaires would devastate the people she serves and leave them out in the street.
*This interview was edited for length and clarity.
What got you into this line of work?
Really just wanting to help and wanting to care for the patients. Oftentimes, we are focused on their physical needs. Are they sick? Do they need medications? No one really thinks about their social needs. Are they homeless? Can they afford their medications? Do they need some form of placement for their safety? Do they need wraparound services so they can be successful? That’s what a discharge planner does.
What kind of patients come to ECMC?
Erie County Medical Center is a safety net hospital. We care for everyone no matter what their race, religion and financial status. We care for the people that other people don't want to care for. When patients come in and they don't have any insurance, we (enroll) them for Medicaid on the spot, often at the patient's bedside. So it's a huge financial burden lifted off of the patient. And they can now focus on getting well.
What would happen to these patients if Congress guts Medicaid?
Let’s say somebody's grandmother comes into the hospital and does not have a great amount of support. A Medicaid long-term care plan is going to help that grandmother get help to clean and cook. She's going to get a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. She’s going to get into an adult day program that will allow her to go out and socialize. Those are the wraparound services that keep people in a community.
If those services are not available, they will end up in nursing homes. And nursing homes are overcrowded. Medicare, which is the insurance for the elderly, does not pay for long-term care. Medicaid is the only (government) insurance that's going to cover your stay in the nursing home.
How would cutting Medicaid affect patients who face housing and food insecurity?
It’s too scary to even think of. People are going to be on the street. People are not going to be able to feed themselves. You cut Medicaid, they're not going to get the care that they need. ECMC takes care of every single person that comes through their door. But will we have the resources to continue that if these cuts are made? It doesn't matter whether or not you are young or old, rich or poor. There are certain services that no matter how much money you have, you are going to rely on Medicaid at some point.
Talk about the domino effect on your community if Medicaid funding is slashed.
We as a hospital make sure that patients have proper discharge plans. But what's the plan going to be when they don't have a Medicaid long-term care plan? What’s the plan when I can't send somebody down to emergency housing? When the shelters are full, where do they go? So it's a trickle down.
Can you address some of the myths around Medicaid?
There’s this propaganda that Medicaid is really only helping lower-income people or people that don't want to work. It’s so much more than that.
What about imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients?
I don't think that there's anybody (on Medicaid) who wouldn’t work if they could. There's always something that happens. It could be a debilitating accident. It could be you’re a victim of domestic violence running away from your abuser. If you think that a granny who's 75 years old needs to get out there and work for her Medicaid long-term care plan, then shame on you. That granny has probably worked her entire life already.
What is the positive impact of Medicaid?
When you give people the right services, they are going to thrive. It’s propaganda that people are on Medicaid and collecting benefits and doing nothing. The majority of the people who have taken advantage of these services really blossomed and went on to do great things. I have plenty of success stories like that right here at ECMC.
How would Medicaid cuts affect ECMC staff and CSEA members who work there?
We’re going to be facing layoffs if we don’t have Medicaid funding. Now you have even more people who are jobless, who are facing homelessness and have no insurance. It’s not that easy to go out and find another job. It's not as easy as people would like to make it seem.