June 5, 2025 — At the time of this submission, the GOP House voted to pass President Donald Trump’s “Big Brutal Budget Bill.” In this month’s edition I’m highlighting some of its impacts on the New York state healthcare system. Hopefully the U.S. Senate will be more supportive of seniors, children and the state’s healthcare system. Below are some key findings about the impact of the massive cuts! This information is brought to us from our friends at the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.

New York Employment Impacts from Federal Medicaid Cuts in the Big, Brutal Budget Bill

Key Findings

• Governor Hochul recently released estimates indicating that the current House Republican proposal would result in more than $10 billion in lost federal funding for New York’s healthcare system.
• A reduction of $10 billion in federal Medicaid funding would result in the direct loss of over 78,000 jobs in healthcare across the state and over 136,000 additional jobs lost through economic spillovers.
  • Overall, New York could lose a total of 215,000 jobs, over 2% of the state’s employed workforce.
  • Losing 78,000 jobs in healthcare and social assistance would be an overall decline in healthcare and social assistance jobs of 4.4%.
• New York City alone stands to lose over $5.4 billion in federal Medicaid funding, resulting in total job losses of approximately 116,000 (direct and economically induced).

House Passes One Big, Brutal Budget Bill – Seniors’ Health and Security at Risk

In the early hours of May 22, 2025, House Republicans narrowly passed their budget proposal, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1), by a vote of 215-214. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.

The vote was deeply divided. Only two Republicans – Representatives Thomas Massie (KY) and Warren Davidson (OH) – joined all Democrats in opposing the measure. Representatives David Schweikert (AZ) and Andrew Garbarino (NY) missed the vote but indicated they would have supported it.

The bill includes $715 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $300 billion to food assistance programs over the next decade. These cuts would be used to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. According to analysts, individuals earning $1 million or more per year would receive nearly $90,000 annually in tax breaks, while families earning under $50,000 would get less than $1 a day in relief.

The scale of the health care cuts is historic and is expected to cause at least 13 million Americans of all ages to lose coverage and jeopardize the operation of hospitals and nursing homes, particularly in rural communities.

Medicaid is particularly important to seniors, serving some of the most vulnerable Americans, including 860,000 who rely on it to pay for nursing home care and another 5.6 million who receive home care services and supports funded by Medicaid. 11.5 million Medicare beneficiaries also rely on Medicaid to help pay for prescription drugs, co-pays, and other medical expenses.

In the case of food assistance, nearly 11 million people could see at least some cuts in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to expansions to burdensome paperwork requirements included in the legislation and shifting costs to the states. 6.5 million seniors receive food assistance today.

A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the House budget would result in nearly $500 billion in automatic Medicare cuts over the next 10 years.

The bill would add $2 trillion to the federal deficit, triggering automatic cuts under existing budget rules. Beginning in 2027, these cuts would slash Medicare payments by 4% each year – affecting hospitals, doctors, Medicare Advantage plans, and prescription drug plans.

“This bill is not just a broken promise – it’s a betrayal,” said Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “Older Americans worked a lifetime to earn their Medicare benefits, and this legislation puts those benefits at risk while handing out tax breaks to the wealthiest.”

If all this makes you want to do something, PEF has an ongoing campaign to sound the alarm. Please visit this page and call or write your members of Congress today!

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