Federal Budget Cuts to Medicaid and Anti-Hunger Services Would Harm Adults and Children Throughout New York
Digital Briefs
April 16, 2025
By: Robert Guttersohn
Congress is currently negotiating a budget that calls for $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. Lawmakers have not yet decided where these cuts are to come from, but they are likely to come from two critical programs: Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
In New York, 33% (2.4 million) of children under 19 rely on Medicaid to partially or fully cover their health insurance needs and about 37% (468,000) of households with children rely on SNAP.
If Congress approves these cuts, the impact in New York State will be devastating and far reaching. Individual adults, families and children from all corners of the state rely on these services to access health services and buy groceries.
Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to eligible individuals and families based on income. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly referred to as as food stamps, offers financial assistance to help low-income households buy food.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, more than 6.6 million New Yorkers (or 34% of the state’s population) rely on Medicaid to partially or fully cover their health insurance needs. About 1.2 million (16%) New York households rely on SNAP to pay for groceries, according to the census bureau.
Reliance on these programs is even greater among families with children.
The budget resolution passed strictly along party lines among the New York delegation. Yet when the data are broken up by U.S. Congressional Districts in New York, large percentages of families and children in districts represented by both parties are accessing these programs.
New Yorkers in congressional districts throughout the state rely on Medicaid and SNAP
Reliance on these programs is even greater among families with children
How Is My District Impacted By Cuts?
Use our interactive tool to look up your congressional district, learn about the potential impact of the cuts to your community and whether your representative voted for the budget resolution that calls for the cuts. Then, fight back by sending your district data to your congressional representative, urging them to fight these cuts.
