As Fallout FROM LAST Year’s Medicaid CUTS Threatens Health CARE for Nearly 60,000 in the North Country, Schumer Visits Adirondack Medical Center to PUSH BILL to Reverse Medicaid CUTS, Protect Rural...

Last Year Congressional Republicans Unilaterally Passed Largest Health Care Cut In History – Now NY Hospitals Are Dealing With The Impacts – With Adirondack Medical Center Listed As One Of NY’s Top Financially Distressed Rural Hospitals Schumer’s Legislation Will Reverse Medicaid Cuts Before Permanent Damage Is Done And 1.5 Million New Yorkers Lose Health Care, Revive ACA Tax Credits, And Make Health Insurance More Affordable And Accessible For Families Schumer: We Must Reverse These Awful Medicaid Cuts And Protect Health Care For The North Country As the fallout from devastating Medicaid cuts in the “Big, Ugly Betrayal” law begins in the North Country, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer today visited Adirondack Medical Center and announced his legislation – the Protecting Health Care And Lowering Costs Act – to repeal these devastating health care cuts and revive the ACA premium tax credits, which would lower families’ health care costs and help them keep their insurance coverage. Standing at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, which was named by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform as at risk due to financial distress , and where 37% of the population is covered by Medicaid , Schumer explained that we have only just begun to feel the negative impacts of health care cuts – with hospitals around the country reducing staff and cutting back on services . Adirondack Medical Center treats over 5,500 unique Medicaid patients. The hospital generates $214 million in economic activity and supports 1,100 jobs. “The ‘Big, Ugly Betrayal’ and its huge Medicaid cuts is one of the most devastating bills for health care we’ve ever seen. Nearly 60,000 New Yorkers in the North Country are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage, with our rural communities and the hospitals that serve them hit the hardest,” said Senator Schumer. “This is a gut punch to North Country health care, drives up costs for consumers, and will hurt so many seniors, families, and children who rely on Medicaid just to survive. Adirondack Medical Center was already one of the most financially distressed hospitals in the state. If we don’t reverse these devastating cuts, it will only get worse for hospitals, nursing homes, and health care centers across Upstate NY.” Schumer continued, “That’s why I’m here to push for my bill to repeal all of the health care cuts and revive the ACA premium tax credits that ended last year. We should be making health care more affordable, not ripping it away and making it more expensive to get coverage. The fallout is just beginning from the devastating cuts in this horrible bill, with rural hospitals across the country treating more patients without insurance, facing longer ER wait times, and trying to figure out how to make ends meet. We must right this wrong, and I will lead the way to protect our hospitals and make health care more affordable.” Schumer’s new legislation would reverse all the health care cuts in the “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” including those to Medicaid, and would permanently revive the ACA premium tax credits that expired in December 2025. The entire Democratic caucus has signed on to co-sponsor the legislation. The full text of the legislation can be seen here . The “Big, Ugly Betrayal” is estimated to kick nearly 15 million people across America off their health insurance and totals more than one trillion dollars in health care cuts. “In the North Country, the average couple is expected to pay an increased $253 per month , higher than the statewide average, due to the lack of extension of ACA premium tax credits in last year’s bill,” said Schumer. Senate Democrats are fighting back and pushing to reverse these devastating cuts and revive tax credits to make health care affordable. Overall, these cuts could rip away health coverage for nearly 60,000 New Yorkers in the North Country's 21st Congressional District , while also increasing ER wait times, increasing out-of-pocket costs & premiums, reducing medical services, and blowing huge holes in county budgets. In addition, Schumer said the health care cuts will shift the cost of care to local governments, resulting in agonizing decisions, with county executives and state legislators forced to decide where to make up for the huge budget hole caused by the staggering loss in federal funding. Counties like Franklin and taxpayers across the North Country will be forced to shoulder the burden of these Medicaid cuts, using more local dollars to manage people’s coverage with less federal funding coming in. The plan to cut Medicaid has already started to hit New York, with experts saying this is only the beginning. Ellis Medicine last year announced it was moving outpatient surgical procedures performed at Bellevue Woman’s Center in Niskayuna to its main campus in Schenectady due to uncertainty about federal Medicaid cuts. Patients worry this is the first step in the Niskayuna hospital’s eventual closure. Last year , Garnet Health laid off 42 employees and cut programs for Hudson Valley patients, citing the disastrous Medicaid cuts in the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Also last year , Kaleida Health announced it will close Buffalo Therapy Services clinics, leading to more layoffs. Schumer said this is a dark preview of what could come now that the largest health care cut in history has been enacted. The Medicaid cuts threaten to force health care facilities to offer fewer services and reduce staff, undoubtedly reducing access to health care for millions of Americans. Overall, New York State estimates that the state will lose $13.5 billion because of the new federal health care cuts. With local communities already panicking about the devastating impact of these unpopular cuts, Schumer is leading the fight to fix this disastrous policy and protect health care for millions of Americans. ###