ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Top New York Democrats warned Monday that 1.5 million residents could lose health insurance and hospitals could shut down if the U.S. Senate passes the House-approved “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Much of the Democratic caucus—Assemblymembers and State Senators alike—gathered for a press conference to argue that the bill will devastate New York and the rest of the country.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the bill would slash $13.5 billion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding for New York, hurting low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities. According to the lawmakers, safety net hospitals in rural and low-income areas would be hardest hit, with longer emergency room waits, fewer doctors, and job losses statewide.

“This so-called big, beautiful bill they’re pushing isn’t just bad policy,” Stewart-Cousins said. “It’s a direct attack on middle-class families. It slashes education funding, cuts health care programs, and threatens the future of Social Security.”

“This will cut off access to health care for low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities and restrict access to the Affordable Care Act for additional low- and middle-income Americans,” Heastie said. “[It] will push about 11 million people off of health insurance rolls [nationwide].”

The House passed the bill by a 215-214 vote, with all seven Republican members from New York in support. They include Representatives Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Elise Stefanik, Nick Langworthy, and Claudia Tenney. According to data from Heastie, their districts together could lose more than $2.8 billion in health care funding.

The bill extends $3.7 trillion in Trump-era tax cuts and adds $800 billion in Medicaid cuts nationwide over ten years. It also eliminates enhanced premium subsidies created by the American Rescue Plan and reduces support for the Essential Plan, a low-cost insurance option for people just above Medicaid eligibility.

The Essential Plan insures about 1.6 million New Yorkers. Without federal funding, the state could face a $7.5 billion shortfall. The program covers lawfully present immigrants who are not eligible for Medicaid, including green card holders and asylum seekers, per Heastie. Hospitals use the federal dollars from this plan to budget for patient care, and the lawmakers said the loss of funds would probably cause a recession.

The legislation also includes significant cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and imposes stricter work and recertification requirements. Stewart-Cousins said, “We are feeding children in schools, and they are cutting SNAP nutrition benefits, making it harder for 3 million New Yorkers who rely on SNAP to feed their families.”

Heastie and Stewart-Cousins urged Senate Republicans to stop the bill, accusing New York’s House delegation of choosing party over constituents. The Senate leader said, “While Republicans in Washington play political games with people’s lives, we’re governing with purpose.”

“We put forward a Medicaid budget that we want to provide healthcare,” said Heastie, rejecting the idea that state Democrats could have done more to prepare. “Why should we anticipate cuts? We’re trying to stop the federal government from instituting these cuts. So passing a budget that would have, I guess, opened the door for them to these cuts? I don’t know why people think that we would do that.”

He also dismissed claims that the cuts target undocumented immigrants. “They make it seem like you don’t want to have health care funding for undocumented people, so it’s not as though that sick person disappears,” Heastie said. “If they still go to a hospital, the hospital still has to service them.”

And responding to being criticized for relying too heavily on congressmembers who supported the cuts in the first place, Heastie pointed out the slim margins. “They passed that bill by two votes. So to say that these seven Republican members of Congress couldn’t do anything, I think you let them off the hook with that. If even two of them said, ‘We’re not voting for this,’ this wouldn’t have happened.”

New York Republicans not only justified voting for the bill, they celebrated it as a win for New York. In particular, House Republicans from New York touted an expanded SALT deduction, reduced spending, and anti-immigration policies.

Asked if he had spoken with Stefanik, one of those seven House GOP members who happened to be having a rival press conference at the State Capitol, Heastie said she did not request a meeting. Stewart-Cousins said her office would be open if Stefanik wanted to talk.

“It is virtually impossible to replace $13.5 billion of funding cuts, to expect the state to backfill” federal budget gaps if the bill becomes law, according to Heastie. And, “We wouldn’t even be having this discussion if they weren’t threatening to devastate us,” he said.

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