A good crowd was gathered at the Humboldt city auditorium Wednesday, June 25th for a town hall meeting to explore the possible local impacts of budget cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Community member Ben Steffen welcomed the crowd and identified the goals of the meeting.
“Our goals for tonight are: number one, help all of us understand how Medicare and Medicaid work in our community, and two, help each of us see how we can help keep those services and jobs in our community.”
Information from Kierstin Reed, CEO of LeadingAge Nebraska, set the baseline for conditions now in Southeast Nebraska. Access to care in the four corner counties is limited with only one hospital in each. Nemaha, Richardson, and Pawnee Counties each have assisted living facilities while only two counties, Nemaha and Richardson, have nursing homes. This leaves Pawnee County with no nursing home and Johnson County has neither a nursing home nor an assisted living facility.
