Disabled New Yorkers could lose access to vital services because of proposed federal Medicaid cuts. The Congressional budget reconciliation bill calls for around $800 billion in cuts to the program over a decade. These could boot more than 1.5 million New Yorkers off the program.
But Jeff Peters, communications director for the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York, said people with disabilities could face greater impacts.
“People can work because they have Medicaid,” he explained. “People can get to work because they have Medicaid. They can stay in good health because they have Medicaid. Some people won’t be able to receive the home care they need. Some people will have to switch to different services.”
He added that it is not easy for some people to switch to a new provider because of the trust they have with providers. Other concerns are how these cuts could reduce a person’s quality of life or ability to live independently. Although the Senate is set to vote on the bill soon, it’s not what people want.
Polls show 71% of voters want Congress to guarantee health-care coverage for low-income people with Medicaid.
But, the impacts would also hit the state’s hospitals and health-care sector. A Fiscal Policy Institute report finds this could cost the state 78,000 health-care jobs at a time when hospitals are facing severe staffing shortages. Peters added that this could force hospitals and medical centers to close, making it harder to access health care in some communities.
“If somebody has to go to their only hospital that is 10 miles away and now, for some reason, they’re not getting the payments they were receiving, they’re not able to support the community; who knows where the next hospital is? Maybe they’re lucky and it’s only 12 miles away,” he continued.
A New York State Nurses Association report finds that between January and October 2024, hospitals statewide failed to staff intensive care units and critical-care patients at state-mandated ratios more than half the time.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.