ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Cuts to Medicaid are on the horizon and the fight is on in Washington to determine just how deep those cuts will go.
As the GOP advances President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,”—Medicaid has become a focal point.
Under the current bill, the majority of those who could lose Medicaid coverage are people who became eligible for it under the Affordable Care Act.
Those enrollees would face new work requirements unless they have an approved exemption.
Republicans in the House say it’s mostly able-bodied adults who don’t work who will lose Medicaid but Democrats say it goes far beyond that.
“Whether you’re on Medicaid or whether you’re on Medicare or whether you have commercial insurance, you’re still going to be impacted pretty dramatically by this,” says Rep. Joe Morelle, (D) Rochester. “What you’re going to find is emergency rooms which are already struggling to meet demand, they’re going to be further and further backed up because people won’t be able to get into nursing homes, they won’t be able to get into hospital beds and the pain will be felt by everyone,” Morelle adds.
Although the bill already passed the House, Rep. Morelle says after its reconciled in the Senate, he’ll get another vote and his focus will be on how it could impact our local people and those who care for them. “We’re tracking it literally on a day to day basis, I talk to the folks at Rochester Regional and URMC and their medical centers literally every day, my staff is in constant communication with them,” Morelle says.
The current bill also eliminates subsides that the American Rescue Plan offers to lower-middle class people and families who buy insurance through the Essential Plan marketplace. The governor’s office said in a news release on Monday that in the Finger Lakes region, that will amount to an average increase of $248 per month for a couple buying coverage on the exchange.
News10NBC’s Jennifer Lewke recently spoke with the Commissioner of the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports about how Medicaid cuts will impact the people her agency serves. “It will be disastrous, in our treatment programs, about two-thirds of people have Medicaid, two-thirds, so if there are cuts to Medicaid it will affect every one of us, all of the programs and all of the services we provide. These are lifesaving services,” says Dr. Chinazo Cunningham.
Representative Claudia Tenney, a Republican who serves part of the Finger Lakes region wasn’t available for an interview on Monday but did agree to speak with News10NBC on Tuesday about her support of the “big, beautiful bill.”
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