Letter to the Editor

Thanks to Trump and Mike Lawler, Two Words Haunt Me — Health Care

By Alan Levy

Two words haunt me day and night: health care. And I know I’m not alone.

I’m a two-time cancer survivor, and over the past three and a half years, I’ve undergone two major surgeries. My surgeries cost nearly $400,000. I’m fortunate that my family’s insurance was there when I needed it.

Like many cancer patients, my focus wasn’t on the bills while I was fighting for my life—it was on getting better, spending time with my family, and hoping for the chance to see another birthday.

I am alive today because of medical research, access to quality health care, and reliable insurance through my family. At some of the most frightening moments of my life, I never had to wonder whether I could afford a surgery my doctor said I needed or whether an insurance company would pull the rug out from under me. That security allowed me to focus on healing.

But when Congressman Mike Lawler voted to slash Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding, he was voting to take that same sense of security away from thousands of Hudson Valley families. The lifeline that helped save my life is the same lifeline he is now making harder for others to access.

Thousands of families across the Hudson Valley are now facing a terrifying reality. They’re wondering whether they’ll be able to keep their coverage, afford their prescriptions, or get treatment when they need it. Parents are asking themselves whether they can afford to take a sick child to the doctor. Patients are delaying care because of cost. Families are lying awake at night worrying about what happens if someone gets sick.

No one should have to face those fears in the richest country in the world.

Last year, when President Donald Trump, Congressman Lawler, and other Republicans passed the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which included the largest health care cuts in American history. More than $1 trillion was slashed from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to help pay for tax breaks benefiting billionaires and large corporations.

The consequences are already hitting the over 210,000 New Yorkers in the 17th Congressional District who are on Medicaid. Because of these policies, roughly 28,000 people in NY-17 could lose health coverage. Our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members will be increasingly uncertain about how they will access health care.

Families are sitting around kitchen tables confronting impossible choices: health care or groceries? A doctor’s appointment or rent? Prescription medications or utility bills? No family in America should have to make those decisions.

Instead, Congressman Lawler voted for policies that make health care harder to afford and harder to access. Despite presenting himself as a bipartisan problem solver, when it mattered most, he sided with party leaders and supported cuts that put the health and financial security of Hudson Valley families at risk.

The damage extends beyond insurance coverage. Right here in Suffern, Good Samaritan Hospital faces serious challenges as Medicaid funding is reduced. More than half of the hospital’s revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid, and the vast majority of admitted patients rely on government-sponsored coverage. The hospital supports thousands of jobs, serves tens of thousands of emergency room patients every year, and welcomes thousands of newborns into the world.

When hospitals lose funding, communities lose access to care. Emergency rooms become overcrowded. Patients travel farther for treatment. Jobs disappear. Entire regions become less healthy and less economically secure. That should concern everyone, regardless of political affiliations.

Americans consistently say they want affordable health care and stronger access to medical services. Yet Mike Lawler chose to support policies that move us in the opposite direction. I’m worried about the next family that loses coverage. The next patient who delays treatment because they can’t afford it. The next community hospital pushed to the brink. The people of the Hudson Valley deserve leaders who will protect health care, not undermine it.

And when voters have the opportunity to hold elected officials accountable, I believe they’ll remember exactly who stood with working families — and who stood with wealthy donors.