Ohio families who rely on in-home Medicaid services fear cuts

By Nadia Ramlagan

A critical Medicaid program providing in-home services for people with disabilities could potentially be cut or reduced amid budget constraints, leaving Ohio families worrying about how they’ll get by.

Lindsay Sulzer, a Cleveland mom and advocate with the disability-rights group Little Lobbyists Family Alliance, has a young daughter who became severely disabled after a traumatic brain injury at four years old and requires around-the-clock care. She said the Community and Home-Based Services program pays for equipment and provides critical support for everyday tasks.

"This provides aides and nurses, and that is a benefit that almost no private insurance covers," she said. "And so because of this, we have the care that we need to care for her so that my husband I are able to work, we're able to take care of our two other children."

During the second half of last year, more than 50,000 Ohioans lost their Medicaid coverage. By 2034, under the cuts in Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," an additional 254-thousand residents are expected to lose coverage, according to data from the think tank RAND.

April is Medicaid Awareness Month.

Sulzer added that HBCS programs are optional, meaning states can choose to eliminate or reduce funding for them during tough times.

"So it really, really impacts the disabled community," she said, "and these are people that are worthy of this assistance."

Ohio’s hospitals are also expected to feel the brunt of Medicaid cuts. A new report from the advocacy group Protect Our Care finds at least 11 hospitals in the Buckeye State are at risk of closing because of funding reductions outlined in the GOP budget bill.