To the editor:

Last May, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who purports to represent us in Congress, voted for the American Health Care Act, which would have caused 27 million people to lose their health insurance, including thousands here in the North Country. She claimed to be undecided about it until the morning of the vote — when she was, in actuality, working behind the scenes, urging her colleagues to vote for it. Afterward, she said that she would try to improve the bill in the Senate. (Although, since she is not a senator, it was never clear how she planned to do that.)

Now the Senate is poised to vote on an even worse bill, one that would strip at least 32 million people of their health insurance and decimate the Medicaid program, particularly here in New York. Under the Graham-Cassidy bill (the latest version of “Trumpcare”), protections for people with pre-existing conditions would be weakened, premium subsidies for low- and moderate-income families would be eliminated, and New York would lose billions of dollars — almost $19 billion a year by 2026. (Source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.) The loss in funds would force New York to drastically cut benefits, especially for children, people with disabilities, and seniors who need Medicaid for long-term care. It would also eliminate Medicaid coverage for almost 2 million veterans nationally — tens of thousands here in New York. This would be especially hard on our North Country vets, who have no local VA hospital and rely on Medicaid for health care.

Rep. Stefanik, if you truly represent the North Country and truly care about our vets, you will vigorously condemn this callow attempt to steal health care from the people who need it most. If you cannot, we will know for sure that your allegiance is to your Republican cronies in Washington and not to us. If this is the case, please resign.

Henrietta Jordan

Keene Valley