Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
Congressional Republicans Just Voted To Advance The Biggest Medicaid Cut In History — $880 BILLION — Which Could Devastate Rochester-Finger Lakes Healthcare, Hammering Hospitals Which Could Face Layoffs, Nursing Homes, And Kick Patients In Recovery To The Curb, Setting Back Upstate NY’s Efforts To Fight The Opioid Crisis
70% Of Patients Receiving Addiction Treatment At Wayne County’s Finger Lakes Counseling & Recovery Agency Are Funded By Medicaid; GOP’s Dangerous Medicaid Cuts Would Impact 300,000+ Across Finger Lakes From Seniors To Children And Could Rip Away Healthcare For Thousands
Schumer: GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Inflame Opioid Crisis Across Upstate NY
Just two weeks after Congressional Republicans voted to advance the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer stood with Finger Lakes people in recovery and nurses at the Finger Lakes Area Counseling & Recovery Agency (FLACRA) to call on Congressional Republicans to block Trump’s plan to decimate Medicaid. The Republican plan to cut $880 billion from Medicaid would hurt more than 300,000 New Yorkers in the Finger Lakes and set back Upstate NY’s decades of efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
“House Republicans just voted to advance the biggest Medicaid cut in history, putting places like the Finger Lakes Area Counseling & Recovery Agency where 70% of their patients in recovery in danger. Make no mistake: these cuts could set back decades of efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in Upstate NY and risk healthcare for over 300,000 across the Rochester-Finger Lakes region,” said Senator Schumer. “Medicaid is one of the largest funding sources for Rochester’s nursing homes, hospitals, and is a lifeline for our rural areas and especially our addiction treatment centers. Across the Finger Lakes, seniors are worried they could be kicked out of their nursing homes and patients in recovery are fearful they’ll be stuck, stranded, and abandoned with no support. We are in the fight of a lifetime to block the Republican plan to gut Medicaid by $880 BILLION. That’s why I’m demanding NY House Republicans stand up and join me in ensuring Finger Lakes rehab centers and patients have the resources they need to fight the opioid crisis.”
Schumer said Finger Lakes patients in recovery will face the worst when Republicans cut Medicaid. Over 300,000 people in the Finger Lakes have Medicaid for their insurance, and many of them are patients in recovery who could be discharged from local rehab facilities if Congressional Republicans cut Medicaid. Schumer explained that once Medicaid is forced to stop paying for addiction treatment in these facilities, and once the facilities exhaust every possible way to keep patients in place, facilities could be forced to lay off staff and kick patients to the curb, setting back decades of efforts fighting the opioid crisis in the Finger Lakes.
Schumer has long led the fight against the opioid crisis. In 2023, the senator personally met with the President of China to talk about how fentanyl is destroying families in Upstate New York and urged him to work with the United States to stop the flow. Under Schumer’s leadership, the Senate also passed critical legislation to upend the flow of fentanyl into the United States and expand access to treatment for people struggling with addiction.
In the Finger Lakes, Medicaid is a lifeline for fighting the opioid crisis. FLACRA serves individuals and their loved ones across the Finger Lakes region affected by substance use and mental health disorders. FLACRA’s 500 employees provide substance abuse treatment including detox, stabilization, rehabilitation, outpatient and supportive living and housing assistance. In 2024 alone, more than 4,690 individuals received help and addiction treatment at FLACRA, of which 3,281 – or 70% – were able to get the care they and their loved ones needed because they were covered by Medicaid.
FLACRA President & CEO Jennifer Carlson said, “The proposed Medicaid cuts will be devastating for individuals and families in need of critical, life-saving substance abuse and mental health treatment. These cuts will impede urgent and time-sensitive access to care programs offered through FLACRA and other Behavioral Health providers throughout our communities. The nation is in a substance abuse and mental health epidemic. Thank you, Senator Schumer, for opposing these cuts and for continuing to support access to vital care and services for people during such a critical time.”
Medicaid funding is also vital to fund the work of the Wayne County Department of Mental Health and Wayne Behavioral Health Network (WBHN) which operates outpatient mental health and addiction treatment programs and support services through its clinics. In 2024 alone WBHN served 4,255 clients in over 95,000 individual sessions of which 76% were billed and paid by Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care. This Medicaid revenue has been critical for WBHN to fiscally sustain offsetting any cost to Wayne County for over a decade.
Schumer added, “This proposal to decimate Medicaid is not just heartless, it would make streets across the Finger Lakes less safe. It would be a gut punch to our efforts to combat the opioid crisis in Upstate NY.”
Wayne Behavioral Health Substance Use Treatment Senior Program Supervisor, Jamie Castellano-Gates said, “Our clients struggle with so many barriers dealing with addiction and other co-occurring disorders but also the lack of resources from living in a rural community. Medicaid has been so helpful to these individuals who rely on it to get in treatment programs…They are incredibly fearful they will be “stuck, stranded and abandoned” – with no support and unable to progress in recovery. Medicaid funding has made recovery a viable option for the majority of our clients to present them with opportunities they never would have.”
Wayne Behavioral Health Director of Community Services (DCS), Sharon MacDougall said, “Medicaid funding for comprehensive behavioral healthcare, including critical substance use services, is an investment in the foundational health, safety, and welfare of every citizen. Access to this care is not a luxury, but a basic right that deserves the same level of unwavering commitment we provide to other essential infrastructure like accessible roads and a functioning emergency response system. Ensuring parity access to behavioral healthcare through Medicaid is principal to the overall well-being of our communities. We all welcome efforts to streamline costs for all essential services supporting our communities; but never at the cost of lives dependent on promised support.”
Schumer emphasized Medicaid is a key tool for fighting the opioid crisis. Across New York, approximately 47% of Medicaid enrollees with opioid use disorder received medications for opioid use disorder in 2021. New York Medicaid covers all FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) – methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—without prior authorization requirements. In 2021 alone, more than 382,500 New Yorkers – and close to 5 million Americans – were treated for substance use disorder thanks to Medicaid coverage. Between 2020 and 2023, the number of people in New York getting buprenorphine – a medication that helps treat opioid addiction – went up by nearly 30%, meaning more people are getting access to this type of treatment. The most recent data available shows an approximately 25 percent drop in overdose deaths nationwide in 2024 compared to 2023, the largest drop in years.
Last month, Trump cut $11 billion from state health services including $300 million for New York State providers like Delphi Rise’s Open Access Center which is Monroe County’s only 24/7 walk-in clinic for substance use care and recovery. Schumer said those cuts plus the looming loss of Medicaid funding could force Delphi Rising to shut its Open Access Clinic’s doors permanently since 80% of the nearly 2000 individuals who seek care to begin their recovery at Delphi Rise rely on Medicaid. Across the Finger Lakes, rehab centers depend on Medicaid and federal health funding to provide behavioral health treatment, but with both on the chopping block, people fear the fentanyl crisis will only worsen.
Jen Cathy, President and CEO of Delphi Rise said, “Medicaid is more than a funding stream. It is a lifeline. On average, 80% of the individuals who walk through our doors at Delphi Rise’s Open Access Center rely on Medicaid. For those who aren’t yet enrolled, we connect them immediately so they can access the appropriate treatment facility. As the only 24/7 walk-in center for substance use in Monroe County, we’re often the last stop before someone ends up in the emergency room, in jail, or worse. Without Medicaid, that critical access to care is lost, and we miss the opportunity to intervene and save lives.”
Mike Hoffman, Delphi Rise Peer Advocate who relied on Medicaid for his recovery said, “Medicaid coverage was the most important part of my recovery from substance use disorder. When I heard about the proposed cuts to Medicaid and OASAS funding, I felt terrified for people like me who live here in New York and across the county. I have turned my life around: without Medicaid, others might not get that chance.”
The Republican proposal to cut $880 billion from Medicaid would mean that the costs of care shifts to states, which would result in slashed services, benefits, eligibility, and reimbursement rates. These agonizing decisions would happen at the state and local level, with county executives and state legislators forced to decide where to make up for the huge budget hole caused by Republicans slashing federal funding for Medicaid. Counties could even be forced to shoulder the burden of increased costs in Medicaid, using more local dollars to provide coverage because less federal funding will be coming in. This means legislators and county executives will have to decide who loses their Medicaid, what services will no longer be covered, or how much doctors will be paid. The senator said while some Congressional Republicans claim that this plan won’t cut Medicaid, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found the GOP plan could not be reached without reducing the funding that goes to Medicaid. There is no way to protect Medicaid benefits if Republicans move ahead with these cuts.
Schumer added, “Medicaid has helped patients in recovery transform their lives, giving them the care they need to recover from substance use disorder and stay off the streets. Many have even become powerful advocates for others struggling with substance use disorder. Meanwhile, Trump wants these cuts for one reason: to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. He’s not looking out for our neighbors or trying to fight the fentanyl crisis. Republicans have tried to hide their Medicaid cuts, use smoke and mirrors and claim this isn’t a cut, but the math shows this would hurt our seniors and families’ Medicaid, and places like the Finger Lakes the most.”
Schumer detailed the scope of Medicaid enrollment throughout the country and warned that Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of seniors. More than 7 million New Yorkers are enrolled in Medicaid, and it is the primary payer for long-term care in the United States. Many patients and families will have nowhere else to turn if Medicaid is cut, and millions of people will be left trying to figure out how to access the care and services they rely on every day.
Major reductions in Medicaid spending will have serious consequences for seniors and people with disabilities. Nearly 1 in 4 Medicaid enrollees are eligible for the program because they are ages 65 and older or have a disability. Proposals to limit federal spending on Medicaid will force states to consider dropping or limiting eligibility or coverage for seniors and people with disabilities to make up for a huge budget hole with fewer federal dollars coming to New York. Loss of Medicaid coverage poses unique challenges for seniors and people with disabilities, people who are likely to live on fixed incomes, have high health care spending, and rely on Medicaid for help with everyday life and for coverage of long-term care.