Chautauqua County Faith Leader, Healthcare Workers, and Community Leaders Called on Congressman Langworthy To Stop Federal Cuts To Critical Medicaid Health Insurance Coverage For Millions of New Yorkers
May 13, 2025
Local Concern Growing as Medicaid—the Nation’s Largest Healthcare Insurance Program Serving Millions of Children, Seniors, and People With Disabilities—Faces Prospect of Massive Cuts
“How this will strip the level 1 trauma center that saves lives. How Brooks will be gutted. How we will strip the community access to medical attention. How maternal and infant lives will be lost. Those seeking mental health services will be cut and families will attend funerals versus medical appointments. Our communities will lose access to health care, jobs,” said Lona DeNisto, ER Nurse at Erie County Medical Center.
“Our national budget is a moral document. It tells us who matters and who doesn’t. This budget decides that we would rather let our neighbors who are down on their luck die, so we can afford tax cuts for billionaires. Because that’s what we do in healthcare, we save you from dying,” said Sarah Buckley, RN and member of CWA.
“Our rural hospitals can not survive without Medicaid. If Medicaid is cut, many hospitals won’t survive and will not be available for anyone in the community, regardless of your source of health insurance,” said Jackie Andula, Retired Registered Nurse living in Langworthy’s district.
Medicaid provides critically needed healthcare coverage for nearly 80 million people–including close to 40% of children in the United States. Seven million New Yorkers, including nearly half of the state’s children, half of all people with disabilities, and the majority of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. In addition, 46% of all pregnant women in New York have their births covered by Medicaid. In Langworthy’s district alone 193,000[1] people rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurance coverage.
Langworthy's district has 41 nursing homes, with many residents dependent on Medicaid. In addition, Medicaid pays for 24% of in-patient hospitals stays at facilities like Brooks Memorial Hospital.
Congressional Republicans are determined to cut vital health insurance coverage to millions of children, adults, people with disabilities and the most frail and elderly citizens all to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. These tax cuts for billionaires are nothing more than a target to hard working families and struggling communities in both rural and urban areas.
New York faces the loss of 72,000 health care jobs[2] and would lose $6.7 billion dollars in federal funding in 2026. These devastating cuts come at a time when most hospitals and nursing homes are experiencing staffing issues because of the multi-year pandemic. These drastic cuts will disrupt care and programs essential for health and productivity of those who rely on Medicaid.
Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and the states, and it is supported by 77 percent of Americans. Deep Medicaid cuts would have a devastating impact on state budgets, forcing state leaders to make impossible choices regarding cuts to vital services.
“The budget draft released by the Energy and Commerce committee totally contradicts Republicans’ stated commitment to protect Medicaid. If enacted, it would represent the largest healthcare cut in history, slashing over $700 billion in funding and causing nearly 14 million vulnerable Americans to lose their health insurance. At the same time, this budget would add additional layers of bureaucracy and red tape that will cost billions and make it more difficult for those in need to get and keep their health coverage.
Americans overwhelmingly approve of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and do not want cuts. The healthcare workers of 1199SEIU call on members of Congress to reject these cuts and uphold their promises to safeguard Medicaid, which is a lifeline for millions of children, seniors, working families, and people with disabilities.”