County Hospitals Could Lose $13.4 Million, More Than 35k Could Lose Health Insurance Under GOP Tax Bill

Chautauqua County hospitals could lose $13.4 million and 35,672 Chautauqua County residents could lose health insurance coverage under the proposed tax bill moving through Congress.

The House is planning to vote, possibly today, on the legislation which includes spending on tax cuts, as well as border security and defense priorities.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the GOP plan proposes to cut more than $900 billion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would directly impact healthcare for nearly 14 million Americans. He said the bill would shift billions of dollars in Medicaid costs to New York State, while simultaneously changing rules that would result in thousands of New Yorkers losing health coverage.

Overall, New York State estimates that the state will lose $13.5 billion if House Republicans’ proposed cuts go through. That includes:

• More than $7.5 billion due to cuts to Essential Plan funding.
• Nearly $3 billion due to the federal government shifting costs to the state.
• Over $3 billion due to new administrative burdens for running the Medicaid program, including burdensome work reporting requirements.

Schumer said Medicaid serves more than 7 million New Yorkers. Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term care in the United States, including at nursing homes and for people living at home. Medicaid pays for services for 2 in 3 nursing home residents. Almost half of all children in the country rely on Medicaid, and 1 in 3 people with disabilities look to Medicaid for their insurance coverage.

Schumer said the GOP cuts include hundreds of billions from the Affordable Care Act, terminating coverage for Americans who purchase their own health insurance like small business owners and family caregivers, as well as taking away tax credits that help them afford this coverage.

He said the healthcare cuts will hit rural hospitals particularly hard. The bill will end provider taxes, which allows New York to directly fund providers like rural emergency departments, and limits state-directed payments which allow hospitals to provide maternity, emergency, and behavioral health care.

Schumer said the GOP healthcare cuts would inevitably shift the costs of care to local governments, resulting in 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 could be forced to shoulder the burden of increased costs in Medicaid, using more local dollars to manage people’s coverage with less federal funding coming in.

An overview of the various healthcare cuts included in the current GOP bill can be found HERE.