Nick LaLota voted on July 3, 2025 for the first law that strips Medicare from people who already qualified. Refugees and asylees are among those cut off. The Congressional Budget Office counts 100,000 people losing Medicare by 2034. The same law costs Medicare $8.8 billion more for some orphan drugs.
LaLota's May 2025 vote, which the House bill needed, froze two rules on Medicare premium help. His April 2025 budget vote, also deciding, opened the way for tax cuts. Those cuts shrink a revenue stream for Medicare's hospital fund. In New York, 3,912,348 people had Medicare in 2024.
Nick LaLota's Votes on Medicare Coverage, Premium Help and the Hospital Fund
- LaLota Voted to End Medicare for Lawfully Present Immigrants Already Enrolled. The House gave H.R. 1 final approval on July 3, 2025, and Nick LaLota was in the majority. The tally was 218 to 214. Section 71201 of the law removes Medicare eligibility from refugees, asylees, TPS holders and other lawfully present immigrants, apart from green-card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA residents. KFF wrote that "This is the first time that Congress has eliminated Medicare coverage" from people who were eligible. Citing the Congressional Budget Office, KFF also reports "0.1 million Medicare beneficiaries losing their Medicare coverage as of 2034." For the group found in the grace period, coverage would stop February 1, 2027 under CMS's proposed rule. The law also widens the orphan-drug exemption from price talks, adding $8.8 billion to Medicare's costs.
- LaLota's Deciding May Vote Froze Help With Medicare Premiums. The first House vote on H.R. 1 came May 22, 2025. LaLota said yes. The margin was 215 to 214, a single vote. Both that bill and the final law put a hold on most of two Biden-era rules. Those rules made it simpler for poor seniors to sign up for help with Medicare premiums. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the House-passed delay would have left 1.3 million fewer Medicare enrollees with Medicaid coverage in 2034. KFF works through the case of a $967-a-month senior who loses that help: the result would be "paying $185 per month in Medicare premiums, or about 20% of income."
- LaLota's Deciding Budget Vote Allowed the Tax Cuts That Moved Up Medicare's Projected Hospital Fund Shortfall. On April 10, 2025, the House adopted the final budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 14, by 216 to 214. Had LaLota flipped to no, the count ties and the resolution dies. Its tax instructions allowed Ways and Means to "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000". Enacted with LaLota's July 3, 2025 vote, those tax changes lower the revenue from taxing Social Security benefits, one source of money for Medicare's hospital fund. The Medicare trustees now see that fund running short in 2033, a quarter sooner than before. KFF says the main reason is revenue "lower than previously projected due to changes in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill."
What Nick LaLota's Medicare Votes Mean for Seniors in New York
- 20,300 seniors in New York's 1st District rely on Medicaid alongside Medicare. KFF data list 20,300 seniors on Medicaid in New York's 1st District in 2025. Through the Medicare Savings Programs, Medicaid can pay a poor senior's Medicare premiums and cost sharing. The rules LaLota voted to freeze were meant to make that help easier to get.
- 3.9 million New Yorkers count on a hospital fund the law weakens. New York had 3,912,348 Medicare enrollees in 2024, KFF reports. Of those, 1,870,979, or 47.8%, were in traditional Medicare. All of them get hospital coverage from a trust fund whose reserves, by the trustees' latest count, give out between April and June 2033, one quarter before last year's estimate. Once it runs dry, Medicare cannot cover a full year of hospital benefits without new money or cuts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nick LaLota on Medicare
What is Nick LaLota's record on Medicare under Trump?
Nick LaLota voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at both House votes, in May and July 2025. The law ends Medicare for some lawfully present immigrants. It freezes most of two rules that help poor seniors with premiums. With his deciding budget vote, he made room for tax cuts that pull money from Medicare's hospital fund.
Did Nick LaLota vote to end Medicare for refugees and asylees?
Yes. The law Nick LaLota voted for on July 3, 2025 cuts off Medicare for asylees, refugees, humanitarian parolees, Temporary Protected Status holders and several more lawfully present groups. KFF notes that people losing Medicare must keep paying Medicare payroll taxes. Under CMS's proposed rule, Social Security would send first notices from August through November 2026.
Did Nick LaLota vote to delay Medicare price talks on cancer drugs?
Yes. Nick LaLota's July 2025 vote went to a law that exempts more orphan drugs from Medicare price negotiation. KFF says the change pushes back selection of the cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo by at least a year. Spending on Keytruda alone, by Medicare and its patients, came to $5.6 billion in 2023. New York seniors who take these drugs keep paying the higher price longer.
Last updated: 2026-10-27