Lansing representatives sound alarm on Medicaid cuts before Senate vote

The U.S. Senate is set to vote on a proposed federal budget that New York Democrats representing Lansing say would be devastating for town residents.

Specifically, the proposed budget includes transformational cuts to Medicaid, a vital government health care program for low-income adults and children in the United States. As of January, program operators estimate that 71.1 million people were enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, with another 7.2 million children enrolled in Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).

According to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) based on the budget bill presented by the federal government in May, cuts to Medicaid would result in roughly 13.7 million people losing their health insurance by 2034. Around 1.5 million of them are New York residents, according to a press release issued by State Sen. Lea Webb, who represents the 52nd State Senate District, containing the town of Lansing. 

Webb, alongside other State Legislature Democrats, launched a campaign on June 10, lobbying U.S. Senators to vote against the budget proposal. The federal spending plan has already been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The U.S. Senate has until July 4 to vote on the bill, which includes drastic cuts to other programs, such as federal rental assistance, the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Education and nutritional programs including WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). 

The cuts are drastic, according to an article on the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Service website. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would lose 51% of its total funding to administer programs such as Section 8 low-income rental assistance. Cuts at the Department of Education would total around 15%. Spending rollbacks for the WIC program would return the initiative to its lowest funding level since 2021. 

In New York’s 19th Congressional District, which includes Lansing, the federal budget proposes cuts of about $296.7 million to health care. That would translate to having around 30,411 Medicaid recipients in the district lose their coverage, according to CBO data. Another almost 2,600 residents enrolled in coverage from the Affordable Care Act would also lose their health insurance.

“The proposed Medicaid cuts are a direct attack on the health and stability of our communities,” Sen. Webb said in a press release. “If enacted, these cuts would put nearly 1.5 million New Yorkers at risk of losing coverage, including tens of thousands right here in the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes. This issue is about our community members who rely on Medicaid to get to the doctor, to fill a prescription, or to care for loved ones in a nursing home.”

Webb said that in her district, health insurance costs for families could increase by more than $265 a month if the cuts are enacted.

“For many, that is simply unaffordable,” she added. “We would be looking at a 48% hike for a couple, all while access to care becomes more limited. Hospitals and providers in our region are already under pressure and in need of additional resources; this would push them even closer to the edge. We must protect the care people depend on, and no one should be forced to have their health put in danger. We need to expand equitable access to health care.”

Increased cuts would also devastate the health care economy across the state, state legislators said in a press release, causing a $1.3 billion annual reduction in hospital revenue, resulting in New Yorkers losing their jobs.

“The U.S. Senate must reject this dangerous proposal — New Yorkers’ health, families and wellbeing are at stake,” State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a press release.

Eddie Velazquez is a local journalist who lives in Syracuse and covers the towns of Lansing and Ulysses. Velazquez can be reached at edvel37@gmail.com.