With GOP Medicaid cuts possible, here's what Sen. Chuck Schumer says worried New Yorkers should do
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stepped up the fight by Democrats to stop Republican Medicaid cuts with a visit to a Long Island nursing home on Monday.
Residents there said they're afraid to be left out on the street with no place to turn.
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"This is just devastating"
In all, 7 million New Yorkers, including 680,000 on Long Island, depend on Medicaid, and it's not just the elderly. It's people with disabilities and people with chronic conditions that require long-term care.
Schumer is putting a very public face on what he says are the dire consequences for New York if Republicans go through with threats to slash the Medicaid budget by $880 billion. He said elderly patients like Annette Ambrosio and Robert Belmont could find themselves on the street, as reduced funds could force facilities to close.
"This is just devastating, devastating," Schumer said, "And you know what makes it worse? You know why they want to do it? Tax cuts for billionaires. Tell that to Annette, tell that to Robert, that they can't get the care they need because we're going to make some wealthy people every wealthier. It doesn't make any sense."
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Schumer said he wants New Yorkers to call Republican congressmen to demand they kill the cuts. On Long Island, that means getting in touch with Rep. Nick Lalota.
"I couldn't do anything without these people"
Belmont explained just how important Medicaid is to him.
"I got cancer. I got all kinds of joint replacements. I would lose the coverage and not be able to get well and possibly my health would go south," Belmont said. "I couldn't do anything without these people. I can't walk. I couldn't do anything without these people. They feed me. They cleanse me. They get me around. They exercise me. I couldn't do that stuff at home, man."
"It's very important for me to be here because they take care of us here," Ambrosio added.
Carillion Nursing and Rehabilitation Center director Joseph Carillo said the cuts would also affect the economy because employees will lose their jobs.
"Right now, we're trying to talk about we have to reduce staff, which we don't want to do. We have to stop admissions if we're cut like this," Carillo said.
Schumer said with potentially $880 billion in cuts, facilities wouldn't be able to reduce staff, adding, "They'd have to close down. It's that big."
