‘It’s About Survival’: Local Residents, Healthcare Workers Fight Medicaid Cuts

For healthcare worker Ruben Bastell, the threat of Medicaid cuts isn’t just professional—it’s personal.

The proposed reductions strike at the heart of his own family’s story.

“My little brother was born with a kidney disease in 2000,” explained Bastell, a senior medical lab technician at Westchester Medical Center and a Rye Brook resident. “He is now 24 years old, and he is able to live a full life because of Medicaid.”