Rep. Mike Lawler is Doubling Down on Medicaid Cuts and Tax Breaks for the Rich
The New York Congressman is Attempting to Spin the Republican Law as an ‘Investment in Main Street’—Despite it Doing the Exact Opposite
NEW YORK — Congressman Mike Lawler is doubling down on his vote for the Republican Tax Law, which slashed funding for Medicaid and SNAP in order to pay for massive tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations. The New York Republican is running a series of ads touting the new law, attempting to spin it as an ‘investment in Main Street’ that strengthens Medicaid. It does nothing of the sort.
The Republican law includes drastic cuts to Medicaid and state healthcare programs, which experts estimate will lead to as many as 1.5 million New Yorkers losing their health insurance. The loss of Medicaid funds will also take a serious toll on hospitals and health clinics, leading to higher costs for care, reduced services, and even rural hospital closures.
“To try and claim that this law somehow protects and even strengthens Medicaid is an insult to our intelligence,” said Diane, a Medicaid recipient from Peekskill who celebrated her 102nd birthday last December. “Congressman Lawler voted for the biggest cuts to Medicaid in history and is now trying to pull the wool over our eyes. It’s not only dishonest, but it’s cruel and callous. People are going to lose their healthcare because of what he did; people are going to die. Representative Lawler needs to stop rubber-stamping this awful agenda and actually work to protect the programs he claims to care about.”
“Medicaid funding accounts for upwards of 20% of the revenue for several hospitals in the area that we all rely on. With these cuts, many hospitals across New York are going to struggle to even stay open,” said Joe Mayhew, CWA Local 1103 Secretary-Treasurer and resident of Pawling. “Every single resident of this area will be impacted. You can have the best insurance in the world, but if you have to travel further because services are no longer there, wait longer because healthcare staff were cut, or if there's no hospital in your rural area at all, your life just got harder because Mike Lawler wanted to give billionaires another tax break. He needs to stop siding with the rich and powerful and start fighting for regular people like us.”
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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.
