Native elected officers held a Medicaid Day of Motion occasion at NYC Well being+Hospitals/Queens on Wednesday March 19.
Picture by Athena Dawson
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A bunch of Queens elected officers gathered at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Queens in Jamaica on Wednesday, March 19, to rally in opposition to a Republican-led finances decision that they are saying might jeopardize Medicaid advantages for a whole lot of hundreds of native residents.
The Medicaid Day of Motion press convention, a part of a coordinated sequence of occasions held nationwide, was led by U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Fifth District) and Grace Meng (D-Sixth District). The lawmakers condemned the proposed federal finances, which instructs the Home Power and Commerce Committee to slash federal spending by $880 billion over the subsequent decade.
The committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare, and the Youngsters’s Well being Insurance coverage Program (CHIP). Whereas the decision directs that Medicare funding stay untouched, Home Democrats argue that Medicaid will bear the brunt of the cuts—doubtlessly affecting tens of millions throughout the nation, together with a whole lot of hundreds in Queens.
Meeks and Meng have been joined by NYC Well being + Hospitals/Queens CEO Neil Moore and Metropolis Council Members Lynn Schulman, Sandra Ung, and Selvena Brooks-Powers, all of whom expressed deep concern over the implications of diminished Medicaid funding.
In line with Moore, practically 70% of sufferers served inside the NYC Well being + Hospitals system depend on Medicaid for care, underscoring this system’s important function within the metropolis’s healthcare infrastructure.
Meeks emphasised that the Medicaid Day of Motion was a significant method to increase consciousness of the significance of Medicaid for People. “Medicaid is not utilized by just one group; it’s not just Democrats, it’s not just Republicans, and it’s not just people from the East Coast or the West Coast… It’s each and every one of us, rural and urban,” Meeks mentioned.
U.S. Rep Gregory Meeks emphasised that Medicaid cuts could be catastrophic for over 300,000 residents residing in his congressional district.Picture by Athena Dawson
He added that Medicaid and healthcare ought to be a proper for all and never a “privilege for some.”
Meeks defined that in his district, 312,918 constituents on Medicaid are susceptible to shedding their well being care below the not too long ago handed finances plan.
Meeks asserted that the Republican members’ motivation in slicing the Medicaid finances by over $800 billion was to have cash out there for tax cuts for the wealthiest People.
In referencing a latest tele-town corridor held by his workplace, Meeks mentioned the primary challenge that constituents introduced up was considerations about their entry to Medicaid. “There are a lot of children [on Medicaid], they are concerned about that, there are a lot of seniors, on Medicaid, they are concerned about that, and they are all asking, can you help us? What is going to happen to Medicaid?” Meeks mentioned. He added that it’s time for elected officers to unite and cease the proposed finances cuts.
U.S. Rep Meng condemned the mass firings of federal employees and the freezing and pulling again of federal funding, calling them “deeply disturbing.” Picture by Athena Dawson.
“This also includes the push to make catastrophic cuts to Medicaid. The Republican’s slashing of Medicaid would wreak havoc on Queens. It would take away the essential health care from low-income individuals, as well as children, the sick and the elderly people across our borough,” she mentioned.
Meng defined over 280,000 individuals residing in her district rely on Medicaid for prescriptions, physician appointments, and preventative exams. She added that she is anxious about what cuts to Medicaid funding would have on medical amenities, together with NYC Well being + Hospitals/Queens. “So many rely on this facility, and the Medicaid reimbursements it receives are essential to keeping its doors open to the public,” she mentioned.
Council Member Lynn Schulman, who chairs the Metropolis Council’s Well being Committee, gave a stark instance of what might occur to the Division of Psychological Well being and Hygiene if Medicaid cuts have been enacted.
In line with Schulman, two-thirds of the finances for the Division of Psychological Well being and Hygiene is paid for by federal Medicaid cash. If funding is eliminated, entry to vaccines shall be affected, and clinics and different medical sources shall be shut down. “ This goes way deeper than somebody not being able to go to the hospital and see a doctor. This goes to the heart of our society,” Schulman mentioned.
Schulman defined to QNS that she is being proactive find options for Medicaid recipients within the wake of potential huge finances cuts. The Well being Committee will maintain a preliminary finances listening to with the Division of Psychological Well being and Hygiene this month to grasp the scope of the company’s monetary wants if Medicaid funding is eliminated.
