SCHUMER: TRUMPCARE WILL AX HEALTHCARE FOR NEARLY 1 MILLION UPSTATE NEW YORKERS, INCLUDING THOUSANDS & THOUSANDS OF VULNERABLE SENIORS, CHILDREN, & PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES; SENATOR SAYS BILL, WHICH COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE & DEATH FOR NEW YORKERS, ESPECIALLY INDIVIDUALS ADDICTED TO OPIOIDS, MUST BE REJECTED

Schumer Has Led The Charge For Years To Protect Seniors & Our Most Vulnerable From Harmful Laws Like Taking Away Affordable Healthcare; Senator Urges His Colleagues To Put New Yorkers First And Reject This Bill, Which Charges NY’ers More for Less Care

Senator Says Trump/GOP Healthcare Bill’s Cuts Hammer the Most Vulnerable – Seniors, Children And Individuals With Disabilities, Forcing New Yorkers To Make Horrible Choices Like Buying Food, Paying the Rent/Mortgage, Or Purchasing Prescription Medication

Schumer: TrumpCare Is The Wrong Prescription For New Yorkers

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, today held an urgent press conference call to push members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote no on TrumpCare this Thursday. Schumer said that, if enacted, TrumpCare could leave millions of New Yorkers with lesser care or no healthcare at all, and could leave countless seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities throughout Upstate New York without healthcare coverage.

“Trumpcare will spike costs for older New Yorkers, increase deductibles, cut back the effort to stem the opioid crisis and deliver a massive tax cut the very wealthiest among us. On top of that it will slug the Upstate economy right in the gut. It’s bad medicine. It is simply hypocritical and cruel to ax healthcare for Upstate New Yorkers like our vulnerable seniors, children, individuals with disabilities and individuals addicted to opioids. The bottom line is that this bill will make us sicker and will hammer the Upstate economy, which is so centered on its hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities,” said Senator Schumer. “TrumpCare is a modern day Trojan Horse filled will higher premiums, less coverage, and a plan to rob millions of Upstate New Yorkers who depend on the current affordable healthcare option. If Republicans were serious about healthcare they would commit to a bipartisan effort to make the Affordable Care Act better, stronger and more sustainable for future generations. Instead they are not only repealing the ACA but also capping and cutting Medicaid which will impact senior’s access to nursing homes, schools abilities to provide services to children with disabilities, people getting opioid addition treatment, and much more. Republicans are once again making quality healthcare a luxury item only available for the top 1 percent.”

Schumer explained that TrumpCare disproportionally affects seniors, the middle class and those who gained insurance via the Medicaid expansion. It would erase more than one trillion dollars from programs that help poor and middle-class families in order to fund an almost $900 billion tax break aimed largely at the wealthy and corporations. Trumpcare would likely increase costs on middle-class and working families while making it much cheaper for the top 1% and 0.1%, people who make over $500,000 a year.

Trumpcare also cuts Medicaid, which covers 68 million Americans including the disabled, those struggling with opioid addiction, the elderly and the poor. Instead of having the federal government match a percentage of each states’ Medicaid costs – which can rise and fall according to how much the state actually needs -- TrumpCare would give states only a fixed amount of money per enrollee each year. If costs are higher than expected, TrumpCare wouldn’t cover the gap. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this change would amount to a $370 billion cut to Medicaid over 10 years which would have huge ramifications for states like New York.

Schumer said that nearly 1 million Upstate New Yorkers are at risk of losing their health coverage by 2026 including huge numbers of seniors, children, individuals addicted to opioids, and individuals with disabilities. Schumer said this bill pulls the rug out from under Upstate New Yorkers who rely on programs like Medicaid and the health exchanges to cover their care. The Senator expressed concern that proponents of the bill are slashing Medicaid and making health insurance unaffordable without regard for Upstate New Yorkers that will be thrown off their health insurance when Medicaid is either converted to a block grant program or capped by the federal government.

The Senator reiterated his commitment to fighting any proposed changes to Medicaid and individual insurance that would harm Upstate New York’s most vulnerable citizens. Schumer explained TrumpCare fundamentally changes Medicaid and imposes dramatic cuts, a program that provides health insurance to 68 million vulnerable Americans including thousands seniors, children and individuals with disabilities in New York.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, TrumpCare cuts Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years.

• In Upstate NY 830,800 will lose coverage, which includes 73,000 children, 16,300 individuals with disabilities, and 27,300 seniors.
• In NY-16 83,000 will lose coverage, which includes 6,500 children, 1,500 individuals with disabilities, and 3,200 seniors.
• In NY-17 78,900 will lose coverage, which includes 5,400 children, 1,200 individuals with disabilities, and 2,200 seniors.
• In NY-18 69,300 will lose coverage, which includes 5,100 children, 1,100 individuals with disabilities, and 2,000 seniors.
• In NY-19 68,300 will lose coverage, which includes 4,900 children, 1,100 individuals with disabilities, and 2,500 seniors.
• In NY-20 65,100 will lose coverage, which includes 5,700 children, 1,300 individuals with disabilities, and 1,900 seniors.
• In NY-21 66,600 will lose coverage, which includes 6,500 children, 1,400 individuals with disabilities, and 2,200 seniors.
• In NY-22 66,400 will lose coverage, which includes 7,400 children, 1,700 individuals with disabilities, and 2,500 seniors.
• In NY-23 70,600 will lose coverage, which includes 6,300 children, 1,400 individuals with disabilities, and 2,300 seniors.
• In NY-24 67,400 will lose coverage, which includes 6,200 children, 1,400 individuals with disabilities, and 1,800 seniors.
• In NY-25 67,900 will lose coverage, which includes 6,500 children, 1,400 individuals with disabilities, and 2,200 seniors.
• In NY-26 67,200 will lose coverage, which includes 8,200 children, 1,800 individuals with disabilities, and 2,400 seniors.
• In NY-27 60,100 will lose coverage, which includes 4,300 children, 1,000 individuals with disabilities, and 2,100 seniors.

Americans and New Yorkers depend on programs like Medicaid, New York’s Essential Health Plan and insurance through the individual market and exchanges to survive. TrumpCare’s cuts would undercut the well-being of thousands of citizens in upstate NY. For example, nearly two thirds of Americans in nursing homes rely on Medicaid.

Schumer argued that the Republicans’ irresponsible plan would, among many other things, put insurance companies back in charge by allowing them to offer less coverage and benefits than they do today under the ACA, increase hospital closures due to fewer insured people and greater uncompensated care, unaffordable premiums for older and rural Americans, and less treatment for opioid addiction. He noted that this bill represents another broken promise to the American People, President Trump promised he would not cut Medicaid, Social Security, or Medicare. Schumer warned that if this bill passes its affects will not only be felt by Upstate New York’s vulnerable population. But all children, the elderly and the disabled stand to lose if the U.S. House of Representatives goes along with Donald Trump’s attempt to slash Medicaid to give wealthiest Americans a tax cut.

Schumer argued that Medicare and Medicaid are some of the greatest policy innovations of the past century. Schumer said this program and the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act helped countless New Yorkers, and profoundly changed the way the U.S. treats and covers vulnerable populations for the better. Schumer has been a longtime advocate for Medicaid and Medicare, programs that safeguard New York’s most vulnerable citizens. Over 1 million people in Upstate New York rely on Medicaid, New York’s Essential Health Plan or a health plan form the state exchange for their healthcare, and the changes made to health care through TrumpCare would deprive children, the elderly, and the disabled of the healthcare they desperately need.

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