(DUNKIRK, NEW YORK) – Caregivers represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) joined with Chautauqua County Faith and Community Leaders in Dunkirk Monday (May 13th) to call on U.S. Congressman Nick Langworthy to stop Federal cuts to critical Medicaid health insurance coverage for millions of New Yorkers.

Those in attendance called for Langworthy (U.S./District 23) - who sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is marking up a proposed budget, to reject any cuts to Medicaid, a vital program for millions of New Yorkers and people around the U.S.

Lona DeNisco, an Emergency Room Nurse at Buffalo’s Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), said: “This will strip the Level One Trauma Center (at ECMC) that saves lives. Brooks (Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk) will be gutted. (It) will strip community access to medical attention. (And) how many maternal and infant lives will be lost? Those seeking mental health services will be cut and families will attend funerals (instead of) medical appointments. Our communities will also lose access to health care and jobs.” 

Congressional Republicans are determined to cut vital health insurance coverage to millions of children, adults, people with disabilities and the most frail and elderly citizens - all to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. These tax cuts for billionaires are nothing more than a target to hard-working families and struggling communities in both rural and urban areas, those at the news conference said.  

Registered Nurse and CWA Member Sarah Buckley said: “Our national budget is a moral document. It tells us who matters and who doesn’t. This budget decides that we would rather let our neighbors who are down on their luck die, so we can afford tax cuts for billionaires. Because that’s what we do in health care, we save you from dying.” 

Medicaid is jointly funded by the Federal Government and the states and is supported by 77% of Americans. Deep Medicaid cuts would have a devastating impact on State budgets, forcing Elected Leaders to make impossible choices regarding cuts to vital services. 

Jackie Andula, a retired Registered Nurse who lives in Langworthy’s District, said: “Our rural hospitals cannot survive without Medicaid. If Medicaid is cut, many hospitals won’t survive and will not be available for anyone in the community, regardless of your source of health insurance.” 

Medicaid provides critically needed health care coverage for nearly 80 million people – including close to 40% of children in the United States. 

Seven million New Yorkers, including nearly half of the State’s children, half of all people with disabilities, and the majority of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid, those at the news conference added.

In addition, 46% of all pregnant Women in the State have their births covered by Medicaid.

In Langworthy’s District alone - 193,000 people rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurance coverage, those at the news conference said. 

Langworthy's District has 41 nursing homes, with many residents dependent on Medicaid.

In addition, Medicaid pays for 24% of in-patient hospitals stays at facilities like Brooks Memorial Hospital, they added.  

On another front, New York faces the loss of 72,000 health care jobs and would lose $6.7 billion in Federal funding in 2026 - devastating cuts that would come at a time when most hospitals and nursing homes are experiencing staffing issues because of the multi-year Coronavirus Pandemic, those at the news conference said.

To Read This Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: Chautauqua County Faith Leader, Healthcare Workers, and Community Leaders Called on Congressman Langworthy To Stop Federal Cuts To Critical Medicaid Health Insurance Coverage For Millions of New Yorkers

News Conference Photo Courtesy Of 1199 SEIU.