Rep. Nicole Malliotakis conducted a veterans town hall to clarify misinformation affecting local veterans, alongside Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. The focus was on ensuring funding for local VA services, including healthcare programs, mental health, and homelessness. Concerns were raised regarding the closure of the closest VA hospital in Brooklyn, which had faced potential closure in 2022. Collins emphasized that claims about cuts to veterans' benefits were false and highlighted the implications of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which could significantly impact healthcare funding and the uninsured population.
"It was a good opportunity to inform the veterans community about the work that we're doing to fully fund our local VA; not just the healthcare programs, but homelessness and mental health," Malliotakis told the Advance/SILive.com.
"If anybody, elected officials in Washington, D.C., tells you that we're cutting benefits or health care to our veterans - I'm from North Georgia. We just call it like it is. It's a lie... I do not want anybody scaring my veterans."
The bill, which Republicans have taken to calling the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by $793 billion, and increase the number of uninsured people around the country by 7.8 million.
The closest VA hospital to Staten Island is in Brooklyn, which faced a potential closure in 2022 under the direction of the Department of Veteran Affairs. The hospital has since been saved from the chopping block, but local veterans now fear the uncertainty a closure may be handed down once again.
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