Schumer: Congress ends plan to cut NY hospital aid

ALBANY, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says Congress has abandoned a proposal to cut $494 million from upstate New York hospital clinics over the next 10 years.

He slammed the proposal passed in the House in December that was intended to reduce the billions of dollars the federal government spends on Medicaid as part of overall spending cuts in Washington.

The action announced Friday includes sparing Hudson Valley hospitals and clinics from $77 million in cuts. Among other cuts were $51 million in western New York, $57 million in the Rochester area, and $76 million in the Albany area.

Another $137 million would have been lost in the Southern Tier and $40 million in the North Country,

Schumer says the cuts targeted outpatient clinics that often serve rural areas and the elderly.