Dianna Bennett sits in her wheelchair at the Isabella County Medical Care facility, with her notebook and calendar, in a room surrounded by nurses passing by in Mount Pleasant, where she's lived for six years.
Bennett enjoys painting, and when she needs materials she puts it on a Christmas list or looks for sales because she's on a fixed income.
"You have to work with what you can afford," Bennett said.
She's a part of a group of older adults that are pushing state lawmakers to expand the Personal Needs Allowance program through Medicaid, which currently provides seniors with $60 a month, or $2 a day. Most of the residents WCMU talked to said they use their monthly $60 to pay for basic necessities and that the allowance is not keeping up with inflation.
Melvin Joslin, a nursing home resident at Marquette County Medical Care Facility in Ishpeming, and one of the leaders of this effort, said expanding the PNA will give people "more dignity."
'Long overdue'
Medicaid is administered by individual states and covers 168,000 nursing home residents in Michigan. According to the American Council on Aging, 28 states provide residents with more than $60 a month.
Many nursing home residents across Michigan have the option to be a part of their individual nursing home councils. There's also a Statewide Resident Council, a group that's "putting a voice together" for nursing home residents pushing for the PNA reform.
Members of the statewide council have sent letters to state legislators, requesting the personal needs allowance to increase to $125 a month.
"They can't afford clothes if they lose them, they can't afford haircuts," Lori Youssef, a nursing home resident at Belle Fountain in Riverview, in metro Detroit, said. "No snacks, hardly their personal needs for deodorant, body wash, that kind of stuff."
Earlier this year, Joslin sent a letter to lawmakers writing that the increase to the PNA is "long overdue" and that people can't afford to pay for everyday medicine.
"The residents of Marquette County Medical Care are finding it more challenging than ever to navigate our personal expenses," Joslin wrote in the letter. "And have the freedom to purchase items that lend to a higher quality of life when we only receive $60 per month."
It took Joslin months to save up for a used computer, so he could join the virtual statewide resident council meetings, he said.
"Residents often have to make the choice between paying for a cell phone or maybe replacing clothes that have worn out," Ahnuh Hayes, an ombudsman that works as the liaison for the Department of Health and Human Services and nursing home residents, said. "Buying personal care items that work for their skin types, or even, you know, ordering a meal out."
Hayes says the allowance can be increased if Michigan's Medicaid budget was boosted from $4 million to $8 million.
Hayes says the next step is to find a legislator who wants to sponsor a bill that would increase the PNA, and she's hopeful it'll happen.
"Increasing the PNA in Michigan would require additional Medicaid funding, as any increase reduces the amount residents contribute toward their cost of care and shifts those costs to the program," Lynn Sutfin, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email statement to WCMU.
'We're the forgotten generation'
A bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in October, to increase the minimum PNA in the U.S. to $60 a month, but it hasn't moved.
"We all know that everything's getting more expensive. So $60 a month, it's just not enough," State Senator Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee, told the Detroit Free Press.
Some residents do receive more than the $60 a month, if they're a veteran or receives VA benefits. On the other hand, married couples receive less than that, as both separately receive $37 a month.
Due to the ongoing funding issues and budget debate in Lansing, there is a low chance of legislation being put in place to increase the PNA throughout the state, as few lawmakers have spoken publicly about supporting PNA reform.
On top of that, President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" affects Medicaid, by cutting spending by $1.02 trillion in benefits for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
"It is nearly impossible to carve out a specific population, such as disabled people or elderly people, because the cuts to Medicaid funding will affect everyone due to hospital closures and health care workforce layoffs," American Progress said in a statement.
Back in Isabella County, Bennett said if she received more from her PNA allowance each month, she'd be able to get more clothing, get her hair done and be able to afford makeup and all the needed toiletries.
"I think we're the forgotten generation, I think that we need to collectively get together and have a voice," Bennett said. "Say, hey, here we are, don't forget us."
