Lawler’s health care answers left me unconvinced

Dear Editor,

Recently I attended a "Cancer Coffee Chat" at the Nyack Public Library, sponsored by the American Cancer Society and attended by Congressman Mike Lawler.

I'm a two-time cancer survivor. Over the past four years, I've undergone two major surgeries. My surgeries and additional care cost nearly $400,000. I'm fortunate my family's insurance was there when I needed it.

I watched in disbelief as cancer survivors asked the Congressman questions, only to be met by long-winded, bombastic obfuscation — a thinly veiled attempt to burnish his bipartisan credentials while dodging responsibility for the real problems cancer patients face from the One Big Beautiful Bill. Lawler cast the deciding vote.

What's worse, his current campaign ads boast he "saved us from the cuts" and "you still have your insurance intact. You don't have any cuts at all." The people of NY-17 will not be gaslit. He cast the deciding vote. He voted to cut a trillion dollars in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years — money that went straight to tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations. The consequences have hit over 400,000 New Yorkers on Medicaid. Roughly 28,000 people in CD-17 could lose their health coverage.

When the meeting ended, I asked Lawler what provision he’d made for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy who now face the bill's new work requirements? He had no answer. After three minutes of word salad, he punted — insisting it was up to the states and suggested I call Gov. Hochul. Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, it was clear: he'd made no provision, accepted no responsibility, and had no intention of helping his constituents.

Americans want affordable healthcare and stronger access to medical services. Mike Lawler's votes move us in the opposite direction. The Hudson Valley deserves better.

Tick tock, Congressman. Tick tock.

-Alan Levy, Brewster