How the budget bill will impact older adults: What journalists should know

H.R. 1, or the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” imposes $1 trillion in funding cuts, along with sweeping reforms to Medicaid, Medicare and safety net programs like food assistance. The law adds new work requirements for Medicaid recipients under the age of 65; puts home and community-based services at risk; pauses minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes; makes it harder for seniors and those with disabilities to enroll in Medicaid or get help with Medicare premiums; and triggers future cuts to the Medicare program directly.

In this webinar, our expert panel discusses how these massive changes will harm older adults and the families who care for them, including undermining the care and support they need to remain at home and in their communities.

Table of Contents

Liz Seegert

AHCJ Health Beat Leader for Aging
Liz Seegert is AHCJ’s health beat leader on aging. She’s an award-winning, independent health journalist based in New York’s Hudson Valley, who writes about caregiving, dementia, access to care, nursing homes and policy. Seegert is also a contributing writer for Fortune.com, the American Journal of Nursing, and PBS/NextAvenue.org, reporting on myriad health topics, including social determinants of health and women’s health.

She has written for TIME Health, The Wirecutter, Money.com, Medscape, Consumer Reports, The Guardian and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, The Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.

Amber Christ, J.D.

Managing director of health advocacy, Justice in Aging
Christ leads Justice in Aging’s team of health attorneys and policy advocates in developing and implementing the team’s projects and initiatives to improve equitable access to health care and long-term services and supports for low-income and marginalized older adults across the country. Christ is a national Medicare and Medicaid expert with a focus on programs and policies impacting people who are dually eligible for both programs. She joined Justice in Aging in 2013 and is a 2006 graduate of Washington University of Law School in St. Louis. She serves on the boards of the Family Caregiver Alliance and Legal Aid of Western Missouri.

Rachel Werner, M.D., Ph.D.

Executive director, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Robert D. Eilers Memorial – William Maul Measey Professorship in Health Care Management and Economics, Wharton School
Professor of medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Werner has built a foundational research program examining the effects of health care financing, payment, and related policies on health care delivery and patient outcomes. She is a nationally recognized expert in Medicare and Medicaid policy, particularly as it related to the care of older adults. She received her medical degree and doctoral degree in Health Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

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