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Gov. Hochul seeks to shrink eligibility for free health insurance, blaming GOP
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 10, 2025
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Hans Pennink/AP/Shutterstock
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 10, 2025
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Roughly 450,000 New Yorkers could be deemed ineligible for a free government health insurance program based on a plan released Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul to shrink its scope.
Hochul said the move is necessary because of health care funding cuts included in the domestic policy bill passed by Republicans in Congress earlier this year. The governor’s move comes just a little over a year after the state expanded coverage under the Essential Plan.
Last year, New York got a federal waiver to expand eligibility for the publicly funded Essential Plan to residents who don’t qualify for Medicaid and make up to 250% of the federal poverty level — about $39,125 annually for an individual.
That was up from the previous income limit of 200% of the federal poverty level. The state Department of Health said in a statement Wednesday the initial expansion was a “groundbreaking achievement.”
Now the administration is preparing to ask the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to end the waiver, allowing the state to revert back to a previous version of the insurance plan. The move would allow the state to access emergency funds that would not otherwise be available and preserve coverage for the majority of the nearly 1.7 million New Yorkers currently enrolled in the Essential Plan, Hochul said.
“I refuse to stand by while Washington punishes vulnerable New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement on the proposed changes. “But even with these steps, 450,000 New Yorkers are at risk of losing their care.”
In a draft letter to CMS, the state health department wrote that because of recent changes to the federal tax credits New York used to fund the expansion of the Essential Plan, “New York expects to receive substantially less federal funding” for the insurance program.
The draft letter is subject to a public comment period that ends Oct. 10.
Hochul called on congressional Republicans to take action to preserve New Yorkers’ coverage by delaying certain changes in federal health care policy. She also said she would seek to work with the federal government to develop other low-cost insurance options, and called on more employers to offer insurance coverage to their workers.
Hochul has estimated a total of about 1.5 million New Yorkers will lose insurance coverage as a result of the domestic policy bill President Donald Trump signed on July 4, which will put in place work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, among other changes.
“Today’s announcement from the Department of Health highlights the severe repercussions of Washington Republicans’ reckless and inhumane budget bill,” New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the state blaming the potential loss of coverage on Republicans.
Tagged
Health and Science
Kathy Hochul
economy
health insurance
medicaid
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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