After Lawler Votes For Gutting Medicaid and Personal Attacks, Cancer Survivor Launches ‘Live Like Lawler Limo Tour’
ROCKLAND COUNTY, NEW YORK — Today, Hudson Valley cancer survivor Tracey joined fellow Empire State Voice storytellers and advocates for the “Live Like Lawler Limo Tour,” a district-wide action calling out Rep. Mike Lawler for voting to reduce Medicaid access and raise costs for New Yorkers while living lavishly off campaign donations. The tour coincided with the launch of Empire State Voices' newest ad featuring Tracey’s story and traced the real-life consequences of Lawler’s vote across New York’s 17th Congressional District. Tracey’s ask to Rep. Lawler is simple: “Stop Cutting Medicaid!”
Photo Credit: Empire State Voices
For photo originals and additional photos, please email press@empirestatevoices.org
The event began in Pearl River near Rep. Lawler’s district office and traveled to health care and Social Security-related stops across NY-17, including Nyack Hospital, the Social Security office in White Plains, and Northern Westchester Hospital, before concluding in Pearl River. The route was designed to underscore what is at stake for Hudson Valley families if Rep. Lawler continues undermining Medicaid and health care coverage.
“When the ACA marketplace opened in 2013, it changed everything for my family. For the first time, we had coverage without restrictions on pre-existing conditions. My kids qualified for Medicaid. I could finally sleep at night knowing we could handle the basics and survive an emergency,” said Tracey, a Hudson Valley cancer survivor featured in Empire State Voices’ new ad. “When Rep. Lawler votes to make cuts to Medicaid, he is taking care away from families and kids. No family should be reduced to a line on a profitability graph. Health care is a right, and every resident of NY-17 deserves it.”
As many as 860,000 working-class New Yorkers could watch their health care disappear due to the Republican Tax Law Rep Lawler supported. This includes thousands of the 211,500 Medicaid recipients in New York’s 17th District, who could see their coverage disappear entirely due to the Republican Tax Law.
“We’re middle class, we work hard, and we were already struggling to cover our bills. With our health care costs more than doubling due to lost tax credits, I don’t even know how we’re going to keep up,” said Karen, a cancer survivor and constituent from Yorktown. “Rep. Lawler needs to put working New Yorkers first. New York families are facing an affordability crisis with our health care costs. Rep. Lawler hasn’t had any sense of urgency when it comes to actually addressing the problem.”
To learn more about Empire State Voices, contact press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. We are 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.
