More than a million New Yorkers could soon find out they’re being kicked off their health insurance plan as state officials untangle the impacts of Washington’s new tax policy bill. New York already spends a significantly higher amount on health care than the national average. Gov.
Kathy Hochul’s office is assessing how the state could make up for the losses. After learning President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” will likely eliminate health insurance for over 1.5 million New Yorkers, Hochul is figuring out a Plan B.
“We could not have foreseen that at the time the budget was done,” the governor said during an Albany-based press conference on Friday. “Look at our efficiencies. What savings can we find to try and address that shortfall?” she added.
The changes mean at least 1.4 million people living within the five boroughs will get kicked off their insurance, according to an estimate from the Citizens Budget Commission. They’re covered under a program called the Essential Plan that includes legal non-U.
S. citizens, but the state will now have to foot the bill. “What we have is really a complex set of changes to health care that are both going to reduce federal funding to the state, they’re going to increase state costs, they will leave more New Yorkers uninsured and strain the state’s hospital system over the next few years,” Ana Champney, director of City Studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, said.
Acting NYC Health Commiss.
