Elder health care topic of Stansbury visit as federal funding freeze impacts programs

RIO RANCHO — Care for the senior community was the theme for the day Jan. 28 as U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury visited Avamere Rio Rancho.

She was late for the meeting, however, because she was dealing with the federal funding freeze President Donald Trump ordered, which impacts major health care insurances including Medicaid, which also happened to be a problem she would discuss with residents at Avamere.

“I’m sorry with all the federal grants getting canceled, the last 24 hours were in crisis mode, so I apologize for being late,” she said as she joined the group.

Stansbury showed up in spite of the “crisis” to hear from staff and residents, who were concerned about health care services they use.

“It was wonderful to meet residents living in the area. It’s a challenging time in terms of trying to navigate the federal funding landscape,” she said.

She added that the residents are worried about what will happen to the programs they use. Amid the funding freeze, other states are reporting trouble accessing Medicaid. According to Associated Press, “the funding freeze could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.”

“Especially with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I think we had a really good conversation about the needs of the community and how that intersects with federal health care policy,” Stansbury said. “There’s a lot of work to get done.”

Stansbury has worked in the past to get bills passed to benefit members of the community who use those programs, including ones to lower costs.

The congresswoman was joined by Chris Donnellan, senior director of government relations at American Health Care Association, who traveled from Washington, D.C., for the visit. He said he makes visits like Tuesday’s regularly across the country. He added that these residents were not afraid to ask the hard questions.

The directors at Avamere hope the visit aids with national issues, which are being felt at the local level.

“I personally think it’s important because she’ll be able to hear from the residents what their needs are and what they’ve experienced with the long-term care community getting to the point where they’re at,” Executive Director Bryanne Mandel said.

She said the residents were excited Stansbury was going to hear some of their concerns and the struggles they’ve been through, “one of whom was a little excited to give her a little bit of a hard time to see how she can answer the questions,” she added.

Though the visit puts the directors on the spot, they don’t mind because it gives them a chance to make sure residents are being cared for in the best way possible.

“I think it’s really important for the congresswoman to be able to hear from us, the smaller people,” Mandel said.

She said the point of Avamere is to provide a safe space for seniors where they can still be independent. It provides independent living spaces as well as single-bed apartments where they can be cared for but also move around freely. The point of it is to provide a community as well. There is also an outdoor quad where residents can get fresh air.

Stansbury left the tour determined to do something about the freeze. She held a conference with other New Mexico legislators to discuss it that same day.

The freeze was blocked by a federal judge that afternoon.