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Trump administration deports hundreds of immigrants, even as a judge orders removals be stopped; Sierra Club sues DOGE over mass firings; Lack of opportunity pushes rural Gen Zers in AZ out of their communities; Fixing one problem, creating another? Ohio's lead pipe replacements.

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Secretary of State Rubio pledges more arrests like that of student activist Mahmoud Khalil. Former EPA directors sound the alarm on Lee Zeldin's deregulation plans, and lack of opportunity is pushing rural Gen Zers out of their communities.

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Farmers worry promised federal reimbursements aren't coming while fears mount that the Trump administration's efforts to raise cash means the sale of public lands, and rural America's shortage of doctors has many physicians skipping retirement.

Nurse: NYS hospitals would be harmed by proposed Medicaid cuts

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Thursday, February 20, 2025   

Proposed Medicaid cuts could seriously impact New York hospitals and health-care workers. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing $880 billion in cuts, ending health-care access for around 73 million Americans. More than a quarter of New Yorkers use Medicaid for their insurance.

Amy Lee Pacholk, a surgical and trauma critical-care nurse at SUNY Stony Brook Hospital, said losing these funds means hospitals can't maintain proper staffing levels to care for patients.

"Corners are often cut with staffing," she said. "For a long time, we have been working toward minimum staffing standards and safe patient ratios so that nurses can take care of patients at safe environments both for themselves and for the patients."

But, a New York State Nurses Association report finds between January and October 2024, hospitals failed to staff intensive-care units and critical-care patients at state-mandated ratios more than 50% of the time. These cuts will pay for extending Trump's first administration tax cuts. The Economic Policy Institute notes that private-market health plans can cost 20-percent of families more than their yearly earnings.

Statewide, hospitals are projecting zero operating margins. Although it's a mild improvement, it's insufficient for hospitals to handle patient care. But, Medicaid's low reimbursement rates are responsible for SUNY Downstate's financial issues. 90% of the hospital's patients use Medicaid or don't have insurance. Pacholk said because of reimbursement structure, the hospital hasn't gotten its due.

"Just because of the population that goes there doesn't mean they should close the institution down," she explained. "It just means that you should facilitate the money flow in a different way to continue to serve the people who live in the community."

Part of the Medicaid cut proposal would involve adding work requirements to the program. But, this is part of a common misconception about Medicaid users, that they don't work. Pacholk said these programs are too important to cut for the sake of slash-and-burn style budget cutting.

"Isn't this why we pay taxes? Isn't this why we pay Medicare insurance,?" she said. "Isn't it to protect people or to help us out in the future if something happens and we become financially destitute? Isn't that the rationale? Isn't the goal to help people here? Why do we have to take things away that are actually helping people?"

Disclosure: American Federation of Teachers contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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