Congressman Mike Lawler’s Record on Rural Health Care Isn’t Pretty
Congressman Mike Lawler’s Record on Rural Health Care Isn’t Pretty
HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK — Today, Congressman Mike Lawler joined President Trump for a White House roundtable event on rural health care. While Rep. Lawler would like to convince his constituents that he has been hard at work improving the access and quality of care across the Hudson Valley, the truth of his record is far less glamorous.
Last year, Congressman Lawler helped pass the Republican Tax Law, which cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. While Rep. Lawler would be quick to tell you that the law included a $50 billion fund to improve rural health care, that falls far short of covering the estimated $137 billion in reduced rural health care spending. Many of New York’s rural hospitals rely heavily on Medicaid funds, and the cuts that Rep. Lawler voted for are expected to put 70 hospitals across the state in danger of closing or reducing services.
“Once again, Mike Lawler is voting to make our health care worse, then turning around and telling us how grateful we should all be,” said Michelle, a Medicaid recipient from Patterson. “You can’t slash funding for rural health care, give us back a fraction of it, and then claim that you’re doing a good job. Hospitals and clinics here in the Hudson Valley are being squeezed as Medicaid funding dries up. If Rep. Lawler wants to take the issue of rural health care seriously, he needs to stop undermining the very programs and resources that keep it afloat.”
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
