The Republican controlled House of Representatives continues to advance a massive budget proposal that threatens the core of the Medicaid program—putting healthcare access for millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, at serious risk.
At the heart of this package are proposals to:
- Impose new work requirements on Medicaid recipients.
- Increase eligibility reporting burdens, which often result in eligible people losing coverage due to red tape.
- Slash over $700 billion in Medicaid funding nationally.
- Eliminate provider tax structures that support state-level Medicaid investments, potentially stripping New York of billions in federal funding.
While these changes are framed as cost-saving reforms, in reality, they will push people—including those living with mental health and substance use challenges—off of the healthcare coverage they depend on to survive and recover. In New York alone, as many as 1 million people could lose coverage if the proposed Medicaid work requirements are enacted.
Work requirements don’t work.
Arkansas tried this in 2018, and thousands of people lost coverage—many of whom were working but failed to navigate the complex paperwork. Research showed no increase in employment, but significant increases in medical debt and unmet health needs.
This is not about rooting out fraud—it’s about shrinking the program.
The vast majority of adult Medicaid recipients are already working, in school, or caregiving. These changes will just create barriers that lock people out of services—especially those managing mental health and substance use challenges or dealing with poverty and housing instability.
New York will be hit hard.
From Buffalo to the Bronx, Medicaid is the backbone of mental health and substance use treatment services. Cuts will lead to higher emergency room use, increased hospitalization, and greater costs for counties, providers, and families. The proposed rollback of provider tax funding could also strip $1.5 billion already allocated for hospital and clinic support in our state budget.
We must act now.
- Call your Representative, especially if they’re in a swing district or on the fence.
- Tell them: Reject work requirements. Reject paperwork barriers. Reject Medicaid cuts.
- Demand full protection of Medicaid for mental health and substance use services.
To help these efforts, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery has launched an action alert system to help community members across the country contact their representatives
and urge them to protect Medicaid.
Send your message today:
ACT TODAY
Congress has a choice: Protect the services that millions rely on or enact policies that will cause widespread harm. Let’s be clear—cutting Medicaid hurts real people, and we cannot let this happen in silence.
Stay tuned for action alerts from the Alliance. We are working alongside hundreds of other group in pushing forward an all hands on deck effort to defeat current proposals.