This week, we asked readers for their opinions on the proposed cuts by the Trump administration to Medicaid and Medicare and how it would affect them. According to ABC News, a large part of funding for the Trump administration’s second term agenda comes from cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” that recently passed in the House makes around $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the outlet reported, adding that about 10.9 million people could lose their coverage over the next 10 years, according to a recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

 

Meanwhile, on June 5, NBC reported that in looking at new ways to pay for the president’s domestic agenda, Republicans are exploring ideas to slash “waste, fraud and abuse” in Medicare, according to several senators. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older.

 

“The only thing I can tell you is that from what I’m hearing [U.S. President Donald] Trump is not touching that, but I don’t know. I don’t know too much about it, but the only thing I like about this bill is that in the bill, it has no tax on tips and no tax on overtime; that I like. But closing hospitals, that I don’t like.”

Tony Apostolos,

Norwood

“I think it would be a waste for them to do this because a lot of people really need it. Many don’t have the income, and with inflation and the budget cuts and people out of work… I’m 58 now, so some day I will need that, so I think we should try and fight this. We need to start some kind of movement and not just sit back and allow this.”

David Lowe,

Manhattan resident visiting Norwood

“I think that it should not be cut. I’m retired and I paid for it, and I need it, and they need to leave it alone. We need to get someone that has some sense in Congress, because something is wrong with them. Rich people get richer; they can afford to pay for this but if our people get sick, the mothers, the grandmothers, the children, and we can’t get Medicaid, that’s crazy.”

Mildred Givens,

Bedford Park

“Honestly, in my opinion, we’re all going to have to sacrifice…. the sacrifices I’m going to have to make if I get cut off! Prices on everything will rise, including Pampers, because all of that comes through Medicare. I need that for my kid, because I’m a single mother and that’s what helps me out. We, mothers, need all the help we can get.”

Adanis Rivera,

Bedford Park

“I think the government officials need to start focusing on cutting other programs that aren’t so essential to the lives of everyday ordinary and working-class people. They can focus on other programs to cut. It seems like they are taking from people in need and giving to the people that don’t need as much.”

Vidyanand Dhanrha,

Fordham Manor

 

Earlier this week, Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) said the Bronx Assembly Delegation spoke out in opposition to the Medicaid cuts in what they said was the “ridiculously named ‘Big Beautiful Bill’” which U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed in the context of the budget discussions before Congress.

 

According to the Delegation, if passed, the bill would place 1.5 million New Yorkers at risk of losing health insurance and cut $13 billion from New York State’s health insurance system. They said nationally, the proposal would throw nearly 15 million Americans off their health care plans and add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

 

“This bill prioritizes extending tax cuts for the wealthy while cutting lifesaving health care coverage for the most vulnerable Americans,” the Delegation wrote. “New York State cannot afford to give Trump and his cronies tax breaks while taking food and health care from kids. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed this legislation, thanks in part to the support of seven conservative Republican members from New York. We call upon U.S. Senators to do the right thing for their constituents and their country by voting down this shameful and appalling bill.”

 

 

 

 

 

For some other health and healthcare related coverage, click here, here, here, here, here, and here.