Chuck Schumer: Republicans in Congress split on Medicaid cuts sought by leaders

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday he believes there is a schism among Republicans in Congress over a proposed $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid that their leadership is pushing, and that the proposal could be shot down or vastly reduced.

Speaking at a nursing home and rehabilitation center in Huntington, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats in the House and Senate are encouraging their colleagues on the other side of the aisle to oppose the cuts, which he said would devastate elder care facilities on Long Island and across the state.

“There are a lot of Congress members on the Republican side who really don't want these cuts, but their leadership is insisting on doing it,” Schumer said. “So if they went to them and said, ‘Don't do the Medicaid cuts,’ we have a real chance of stopping that.”

Thousands of Long Islanders — many of them middle class — depend on Medicaid to pay for their care in nursing homes, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, he said.

The Republican majority in Congress is working on sweeping legislation that would make tax cuts first passed in 2017 permanent.

House Republicans last month passed a budget resolution to extend the tax cuts, which they say would be offset by cutting spending on Medicaid by $880 billion over the next decade. Republicans have argued that they can make the cuts and still deliver adequate services to people. They also contend such programs have extensive waste and fraud.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) told NewsdayTV in an interview that he supports reforming and improving Medicaid "to take the folks who are not in this country legally off, to require work for able-bodied adults, and to root out waste, fraud and abuse."

He said taking such steps could save billions of dollars, which "only strengthens the programs for Americans who truly need it."

The office of the other Republican House member from Long Island, Andrew Garbarino, of Bayport, did not immediately provide a comment.

Medicaid is a state and federal program that helps people with limited incomes — but also in many cases older middle-class people — pay for medical, nursing home and personal care.

The federal government paid $57.1 billion in Medicaid benefits in New York State in fiscal year 2024, and the state contributed $35.9 billion, Newsday has reported, citing the state Office of the Comptroller.

About 680,000 people on Long Island receive Medicaid assistance, Schumer said. He contended that many could be discharged from nursing homes if the proposed cuts go through or some facilities would shut down.

Schumer said he believes some Republican members of Congress are feeling pressure to resist the Medicaid cuts, and that debate over it is holding up passage of a budget.

“Right now we haven’t put a budget together because they are getting resistance in both the House and Senate from some Republicans who don’t want these Medicaid cuts,” Schumer said. “So we have a real chance here” of stopping the cuts.

Joseph Carillo, owner of the Carillon Nursing and Rehabilitation Center where Schumer spoke, said the proposed Medicaid cuts “would be devastating for us.”

He said he would have to lay off staff and delay or stop accepting elderly patients.

One patient, Robert Belmont, 74, a retired construction worker from Huntington, said he depends on Medicaid to be able to stay at the facility, and that he was not sure what he would do if there was a major cut in funding.

“It's kind of scary hearing” about the proposed cuts, he said. “They're big numbers.”

He said he has cancer, can’t walk and can’t cook for himself. “So this place for me is keeping me going,” he said, adding, “I can't believe they would think of doing something like cutting health benefits.”