Residents throughout the Hudson Valley say they're concerned about federal cuts to health care programs as the Trump administration looks to cut government spending. The outcry against federal cuts to programs that include Medicare, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, is gaining momentum. According to a non-partisan budget assessor, the move by the Trump administration to reach a budget goal of slashing at least $1.5 billion in spending over the next decade cannot be done without also cutting healthcare programs, which tens of millions of Americans rely upon. House Speaker Mike Johnson insists the spending cuts can be achieved by keeping healthcare safe in Republican hands. Poughkeepsie retiree Linda Bartee, however, is not buying it. "It's not just me but others as well, and those of who are in the same predicament as I am who have worked 40-plus years and paid into the system, and did what we needed to do. And now we need the system, and the system is actually being taken away from us," Bartee says. As Republicans look to slash spending, grassroots programs like the New York-based Community Voices Heard Power are vowing to fight the proposed cuts it says will hurt the most vulnerable, which include children and the elderly. "In the districts where a lot of our members are, which are Westchester, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie and those congressional districts combined...close to a million people are going to be impacted by these budget cuts to Medicaid, and also to the cuts to SNAP and also the Department of Housing and Urban Development," says Juanita Lewis, of Community Voices Heard Power. On a national level, Medicaid covers approximately 70 million low-income people, or one in five Americans. Medicare provides health coverage for over 66 million people over the age of 65. The number of people who could be impacted by the cuts on the local level is also concerning. "In Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Beacon, Middletown, Kingston...we're talking about nearly 245,000 that are on Medicaid...and then 74,000 people who are on SNAP," Lewis says. Just this weekend, the American Medical Association and a number of doctors' groups denounced what they call a decision by the Republican-led Congress to allow a devastating cut in Medicare payments to physicians. Concerned physicians say that move will increase the number of people without insurance, a reduction in access to health care, increased consumer costs for health care, and reduced payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers. Opponents to the cuts, however, say they still have hope. "It's the ongoing education that we're going to be doing, and door knocking, and thinking about what's the next level of work that we want to do, but definitely keeping the pressure on those that can make this decision," Lewis says.