Press Release: Governor Hochul and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries Warn of Detrimental Impacts of President Trump's One Big Ugly Bill

Republican-Passed Bill Would Gut New York’s Healthcare System 

Estimated Loss of $13.5 Billion Every Year, Devastating Our Healthcare System 

1.5 Million New Yorkers To Lose Healthcare Coverage and Become Uninsured; Over $3 Billion in Losses for New York’s Hospitals 

New Visualization of Impacts by Congressional District Here and Detailed Analysis Available Here

Governor Kathy Hochul today was joined by the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and leaders in the health care and labor sectors to sound the alarm on the detrimental effects of several healthcare provisions already passed by the House of Representatives in the Republican budget reconciliation bill. These provisions collectively amount to an annual loss of nearly $13.5 billion for New Yorkers and our healthcare sector, jeopardizing healthcare access for millions of New Yorkers and threatening the state’s hospitals and healthcare providers. 

“Republicans in Washington have made it abundantly clear that they are determined to dismantle the social safety net that millions of New Yorkers rely on to secure their basic necessities,” Governor Hochul said. “They are specifically targeting essential and life-saving programs such as Medicaid and food stamps with the consequence that everyday Americans will bear the brunt of this attack. I am committed to utilizing litigation and other appropriate tools to safeguard and protect New Yorkers.” 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “It was an honor to join Governor Kathy Hochul at Interfaith Medical Center in Central Brooklyn today, and I am thankful for her leadership, strength and presence on behalf of the people of New York. Across our great state, millions rely on Medicaid for life-saving and life-sustaining healthcare. Under Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill, 1.5 million New Yorkers would lose their insurance as part of a toxic scheme to enact massive tax cuts for billionaires like Elon Musk. Nursing homes will close, hospitals will shut down and Community Health Centers will lose funding. House Republicans from New York were nothing more than a rubber stamp for Trump’s reckless and extreme agenda, voting to strip healthcare from their constituents. We must keep the pressure on and continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the One Big Ugly Bill is buried deep in the ground, never to rise again.” 

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “Governor Hochul’s strong leadership and unwavering commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe and healthy is needed more than ever in the wake of these targeted attacks on public health and our health care system. These unnecessary and short-sighted cuts undermine the very health, safety and financial well-being of New Yorkers, especially those who rely on the health care safety net that’s being pulled away. This is not about Making America Healthy Again, it’s about Making America Hurt Again.” 

The current provisions of the bill would decimate federal funding for Medicaid and the Essential Plan and cause almost 1.5 million New Yorkers to lose their health coverage and become uninsured. 

As outlined in the House-passed bill, supported by all of New York's Republican Congressional delegation, over 50 percent of Essential Plan funding, amounting to more than $7.5 billion, would be eliminated, posing a threat to the program’s future. 

Beyond causing substantial financial losses to the Essential Plan, the bill also targets Medicaid through a variety of measures such as requiring states to impose stricter work reporting requirements as well as onerous and duplicative verification processes. These measures will significantly increase the administrative burden of the program, both making coverage much more challenging to access and dramatically increasing administrative costs. The bill also eliminates crucial funding mechanisms and imposes new penalties that target states like New York that have invested in expanding access to healthcare. All told, the bill would cause an almost $6 billion impact on the State’s Medicaid program — including, amongst other impacts, approximately $2.5 billion in lost federal revenue and $500 million in new State administrative costs alone. 

All of these provisions will have a dramatic impact on New York’s healthcare providers, placing immense strain on the healthcare system and triggering far-reaching impacts on local economies. The state anticipates a loss of over $3 billion for New York’s hospitals as a result of increases in uncompensated care and decreases in reimbursement. 

Under the direction of Governor Hochul, the New York State Department of Health gathered data to create an analysis of these funding cuts passed by the House of Representatives in the Republican budget reconciliation bill. View the congressional district-by-district breakdown on anticipated funding losses here alongside the previously shared detailed analysis here.

New York State Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri said, "The House bill is a devastating blow to New York's healthcare system that we simply cannot absorb. This legislation would strip coverage from over 1 million Medicaid enrollees, while simultaneously increasing our state administrative costs by more than 20%. This bill doesn't just destabilize health insurance in New York – it abandons our commitment to ensuring healthcare access for working families and those who need it most." 

New York State of Health Executive Director Danielle Holahan said, “The provisions of the House-passed budget reconciliation bill guts New York’s healthcare economy and reverses decades of progress implementing the Affordable Care Act in New York. The bill eliminates eligibility for almost half of Essential Plan enrollees, drives increased uninsured and uncompensated care costs for providers, and strips our autonomy to best serve New Yorkers, making it harder for them to enroll and stay covered.” 

President of New York State Health Care Association Bea Grause said, “The $13.5 billion annual impact to New York State will impact every community across New York: urban, suburban and rural. This negative impact will result in job loss, and this job loss will result in a loss of access to care — not just to Medicaid patients but for every patient who comes through the hospital door needing care. And lastly, for every healthcare job lost another job will be lost in the community. We will do everything we can to stop this disastrous legislation from harming care and jobs in our communities.”

President of Greater New York Hospital Association Kenneth E. Raske said, “The reconciliation bill is a disaster for New York and its hospitals. It will rip away Medicaid coverage from more than a million eligible beneficiaries, drive up uncompensated care costs for financially struggling hospitals, and shift massive costs to the State. A single immigration coverage provision alone could cost our hospitals an unsustainable $1.3 billion annually from uncompensated care increases and lower reimbursement levels. Every hospital patient in New York will suffer from these provisions, not just those with Medicaid coverage. The hospital community is working hand in glove with Governor Hochul in the fight to stop these cuts.” 

One Brooklyn Health System CEO Dr. Sandra Scott said, “If these proposed Medicaid cuts are implemented, the ramifications will be devastating. We will see an increase in hospital closures, a reduction in the range of services provided, and significant job losses among healthcare professionals. This would limit access to essential services, such as emergency care, maternal health, and chronic disease management, disproportionately affecting those patients who rely on these hospitals as their primary source of medical care and greatly impacting their quality of life. The reconciliation bill will threaten the viability of our nations' hospitals, especially urban and rural institutions where there are lower operating margins. We must work collaboratively to safeguard this vital funding, to preserve the integrity of our healthcare systems and the welfare of the communities we serve.” 

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East Member and In-Service Coordinator Michelle Ned said, “Interfaith Medical Center is a safety net hospital, and we depend on Medicaid dollars to provide our community with essential care. Federal Medicaid cuts would be devastating to Brooklyn; the very real consequences would mean that vulnerable people in our community would die. Healthcare workers are united in our demand: hands off Medicaid!”