BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — House Republicans passed a multi-trillion-dollar tax and spending package in the early morning hours Thursday.
It’s President Donald Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill” that would slash federal spending by more than $1.5 trillion, including cuts to Medicaid, which could leave millions without needed coverage.
READ MORE: From tax cuts to the border wall: Here's what's in Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley is finding out how some of the most vulnerable community members could be impacted locally by these Medicaid cuts.
“It would be very, very catastrophic for the most vulnerable people that we have in Buffalo,” said Samatha Nephew, communication specialist at the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.
Buffalo is below the national average of household income, especially on the city's East Side, so cuts to Medicaid could be devastating to those who rely on it for health care, and they could be among the more than 7 million who could lose Medicaid under the Trump budget bill.
“Right now, there's a lot of resources that are just not available on the East Side, and so by cutting Medicaid, what that would do is limit people's ability to be seen in primary care, if they even have primary care,” Nephew explained.
The Buffalo Center for Health Equity is working to end health disparities for marginalized community members. Nephew told me the approved budget bill, led by the GOP, could harm many pregnant mothers in Buffalo.
"That you can't be pro-life and then want to cut Medicaid, because Medicaid is what's saving lives in this country, hundreds of thousands of lives every day," Nephew said. "Medicaid is truly, truly that lifeline."
"This is the beginning of a great American comeback,” Congressman Nick Langworthy (R-NY23) stated from the House floor
He said the bill is good for American families.
Langworthy and Claudia Tenney (R-NY24) both voted in favor of the bill.
“H.R. 1 is transformative legislation that preserves and protects Medicaid for those who truly need it, while restoring fiscal responsibility through common sense measures like modest work requirements for able-bodied individuals without dependents, just as President Clinton did with huge success in the 1990’s. While Democrats and special interests who have benefited from a broken system are stoking fear and spreading lies, House Republicans are delivering solutions. Make no mistake: if we do nothing, the system goes broke. Medicaid and other essential programs will collapse under the weight of wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse. For too long, these programs have operated with little accountability. That’s unacceptable. We have a duty to protect both the people who depend on these services and the taxpayers who fund them, and this legislation does just that.”
Democratic Majority Leader Senator Charles Schumer hopes the bill is doomed as it heads to the Senate for approval and called it a “dangerously radical” plan.
“This bill will shut down rural hospitals, community health centers, urgent care clinics, and more,” Schumer said on the House Floor.
The Medicaid cuts could also impact hospitals. It could go into effect as early as next year, giving them less time to prepare.
Nephew told me she's from the Seneca Nation and her family lives on the reservation in Salamanca. They rely on a rural hospital, and if it had to close, they would be forced to travel to Buffalo for emergency care.
“If this get this gets cut, Buffalo might be the closest that they have, and that's an hour and a half in the case of a life-threatening situation," Nepwhew said. "I don’t want to think about what that would do to my family.”
