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Protect Medicaid: Senator Schumer's Urgent Conference on Healthcare Cuts
- FLACRA
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Newark, NY – 04/23/2025 – On Monday, Jennifer Carlson, President & CEO at FLACRA, stood alongside State Senator Chuck Schumer and others to say she is opposing the elimination of the nearly $880 billion dollar that comes from Medicaid.
“FLACRA has grown in the last five years to really cover and serve individuals from our communities along with families with children, and this would be very devastating to the children in the Finger Lakes region that we are serving,” Carlson said. “Crucial prevention and early intervention are really so much of what creates a healthier family.”
Senator Schumer. “Medicaid is one of the largest funding sources for Rochester’s nursing homes, hospitals, and is a lifeline for our rural areas and especially our addiction treatment centers. Across the Finger Lakes, seniors are worried they could be kicked out of their nursing homes and patients in recovery are fearful they’ll be stuck, stranded, and abandoned with no support. Schumer emphasized Medicaid is a key tool for fighting the opioid crisis. Across New York, approximately 47% of Medicaid enrollees with opioid use disorder received medications for opioid use disorder in 2021. New York Medicaid covers all FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) - methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—without prior authorization requirements. In 2021 alone, more than 382,500 New Yorkers – and close to 5 million Americans – were treated for substance use disorder thanks to Medicaid coverage. Between 2020 and 2023, the number of people in New York getting buprenorphine - a medication that helps treat opioid addiction - went up by nearly 30%, meaning more people are getting access to this type of treatment. The most recent data available shows an approximately 25 percent drop in overdose deaths nationwide in 2024 compared to 2023, the largest drop in years.
FLACRA President & CEO Jennifer Carlson: “The proposed Medicaid cuts will be devastating for individuals and families in need of critical, life-saving substance abuse and mental health treatment. These cuts will impede urgent and time-sensitive access to care programs offered through FLACRA and other Behavioral Health providers throughout our communities. The nation is in a substance abuse and mental health epidemic. Thank you, Senator Schumer, for opposing these cuts and for continuing to support access to vital care and services for people during such a critical time.”
Medicaid funding is also vital to fund the work of the Wayne County Department of Mental Health and Wayne Behavioral Health Network (WBHN) which operates outpatient mental health and addiction treatment programs and support services through its clinics. In 2024 alone WBHN served 4,255 clients in over 95,000 individual sessions of which 76% were billed and paid by Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care. This Medicaid revenue has been critical for WBHN to fiscally sustain offsetting any cost to Wayne County for over a decade.
Wayne Behavioral Health Substance Use Treatment Senior Program Supervisor, Jamie Castellano-Gates said, “Our clients struggle with so many barriers dealing with addiction and other co-occurring disorders but also the lack of resources from living in a rural community. Medicaid has been so helpful to these individuals who rely on it to get in treatment programs…They are incredibly fearful they will be “stuck, stranded and abandoned” - with no support and unable to progress in recovery. Medicaid funding has made recovery a viable option for the majority of our clients to present them with opportunities they never would have.”
Wayne Behavioral Health Director of Community Services (DCS), Sharon MacDougall said, “Medicaid funding for comprehensive behavioral healthcare, including critical substance use services, is an investment in the foundational health, safety, and welfare of every citizen. Access to this care is not a luxury, but a basic right that deserves the same level of unwavering commitment we provide to other essential infrastructure like accessible roads and a functioning emergency response system. Ensuring parity access to behavioral healthcare through Medicaid is principal to the overall well-being of our communities. We all welcome efforts to streamline costs for all essential services supporting our communities; but never at the cost of lives dependent on promised support.”
“Nobody wakes up one day asking to fall under circumstances of mental health disorders, substance abuse, poverty.” Shay Banach, Certified Recovery Peer Advocate, FLACRA.
Shay was a FLACRA client from 2017 to 2019, following years of seeking treatment elsewhere without lasting success. After relocating to Wayne County in 2019, Shay began receiving services through FLACRA Outpatient, supported by Medicaid. With the right support in place, Shay successfully completed treatment and recently celebrated five years of continuous recovery.
Today, Shay works as a Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) at FLACRA's Newark based Outpatient Center and has played a vital role in supporting the recovery journeys of over 650 individuals facing substance use or mental health challenges.
We are deeply honored that Senator Chuck Schumer chose FLACRA’s Connections: Youth Clubhouse in Wayne County as the site for yesterday’s important press conference on April 21st.
Senator Schumer brought urgent attention to a critical issue—nearly 70% of individuals receiving addiction treatment in Monroe and Wayne counties rely on Medicaid to access care. His warning about the proposed $880 billion cut to Medicaid—the largest in the program’s history—underscores what’s at stake for the thousands of individuals and families who depend on these life-saving services.
We thank the Senator for standing with our community and for continuing to fight for equitable access to treatment.
To read more on the recent decision to advance what is said to be the biggest Medicaid cut in history, please see the links below for the official press release and televised newscast.
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