More than 60 parents, assemblymembers and youth mental health advocates called upon New York State lawmakers to compensate for the impending deficits from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Members of the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids rallied July 24 against federal changes to Medicaid they say will make it harder for young people to access mental health care. (Freddie Vuillemey/City Limits)

This story was produced by student reporters in City Limits’ youth journalism training program (CLARIFY): Jayleen Ajcalon, Damali Brown, Jael Garcia, Stefani Hermanto, Takrim Kahn, Alexandra Krasney, Terence Li, Jason Ocasio, Anjhelina Rimarachin, Awa Sangere, Amira Sore, Freddie Vuillemey, Al-Maliki Thompson and Ella Zhu. With instruction and editing by Jeff Gage and Alana Allen.

Youth advocates held a rally last week to protect mental health care access for children in New York in the wake of federal Medicaid cuts, gathering at the New York Foundling Hospital in East Harlem to denounce the changes.

Amid chants of “Stand up, fight back!” and “Tax the rich, fund the youth,” a group of more than 60 parents, assemblymembers and youth mental health advocates—members of the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids*—called upon New York State lawmakers to compensate for the impending deficits from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

The bill, which was signed into law on July 2, enacts the largest Medicaid funding cuts in U.S. history, slashing around $1 trillion from the program. Congressional budget estimates predict that over 10 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage within the next 10 years.

In New York alone, these cuts are projected to cost the state health care system $13 billion annually and leave more than 1.5 million people uninsured, according to the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The New York Foundling Hospital’s Senior Vice President, Dr. Kristy-Lee Jean-Pierre, warned that these cuts will reduce access to mental health services and preventive care for millions of children in New York. This means fewer resources to serve youth, families in crisis and children with developmental needs.

“Fifty percent of our kids are dependent on Medicaid to be able to access that care. So any cuts are going to result in real effects, real tragedy and real incidents,” Jean-Pierre said.

The “One Bill Beautiful Bill Act” makes it harder to get coverage due to narrower eligibility criteria, like work requirements for parents with children older than 13. Those under the Affordable Care Act, which expanded Medicaid, will be required to update their information yearly, including immigration status and income.

The White House claims the changes are intended to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Jo Anne Simon is a state assemblymember representing Brooklyn’s 52nd district. She spoke passionately about the urgent need for mental health support and the state’s responsibility to act in the wake of the federal cuts. 

“They’re hurting people and they don’t care about the people here that we care about, that we need to take care of, and that is all children,” Simon said. “All children need access to mental health[care].”

With federal support slashed and state agencies facing critical demand, Simon called directly on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to find long-term solutions. She underscored the importance of raising state funding in a fair and sustainable way, and “not on the backs of the working people of New York.”

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simone (center, in blue) addressing the crowd. (CLARIFY)

“The administration [in New York] has to start raising funds. We can’t continue like this, and we can’t make up the difference in the federal funding,” Simon said.

Fellow Assemblymember Manny De Los Santos, a former high school social worker who represents the 72nd District in Manhattan, highlighted the struggles that many New York City families already faced before these cuts, including children struggling with food insecurity.

“It’s about respect. It’s about the services that need to be offered to those youth,” De Los Santos said. “So I say to you today: Mental health services…are not to sell.”

The new Medicaid cuts demonstrate how the federal government has been “working against” local communities, De Los Santos said, particularly underserved ones and communities of color like those he and Simon represent.

“Mental health services and critical services are not special services,” De Los Santos said. “They’re human rights services.” 

Other speakers provided emotional personal testimonies of how their lives and the lives of their children were impacted by mental health struggles, and how having access to Medicaid was the difference between saving a child and losing them.

Christina Hauptman, a member of the Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids Council, recounted how the Medicaid waiver program saved her son from suicide when private insurance would not cover the services he needed. She warned that cuts to Medicaid would put the lives of children with severe mental health needs at risk.

“Suicide is real—it’s not rare. And it’s stealing our children,” Hauptman said. “Now they want to gut [Medicaid]. They call it a budget cut. I call it a body count.”

Tamara Begel’s son dealt with emotional regulation issues severe enough that, between the ages of 12 and 17, he was separated from his family and forced to live in institutions and group homes. Though he has now returned home, Begel lamented having missed “his bar mitzvah, dinners filled with laughter and debate” and other milestones of her son’s adolescence.

“[A] lack of funding, delays in service, [and] workforce shortages are not just inconvenient. They are harmful,” said Begel, who said she stills suffers from the trauma of her son’s years of struggle. 

Members of the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids rallied July 24 against federal changes to Medicaid they say will make it harder for young people to access mental health care. (Ella Zu/City Limits)

However, according to mental health advocates like Anya Garcia, an increase in funding must be accompanied by other reforms.

Garcia struggled with her mental wellbeing as a teen, but had to wait months to receive care and switched between three different therapists in one year. Such crises will only get worse with federal cuts, she cautioned.

“That means longer wait lists, fewer providers, and fewer lifelines for young people in pain,” Garcia said.

Garcia also stressed the need for more diversity in mental health professions to reflect the experiences of people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and young people impacted by violence. She argued that such representation is vital to building trust. 

“My generation carries the weight of systemic racism, poverty, violence and loss,” Garcia said. “Our behavioral health reflects that. That’s why we need policies and funding that truly reflect our reality and our needs. We need a system designed with us in mind, not one that treats us as an afterthought.”

Assemblymember Nily Rozic of the 25th District in Queens acknowledged that there have been some positive strides at the state level in recent years. She touted legislation like the SAFE for Kids Act, which was passed in 2023 and banned addictive social media feeds for minors, but warned that such legislation needs institutional support to succeed.

“None of that matters if we’re not also funding behavioral health systems like the ones here today,” Rozic said, in reference to the New York Foundling Hospital.

“Laws alone won’t heal kids,” she added, “but funding these services will.”

As Jean-Pierre noted, places like the Foundling Hospital provide outreach that extends well beyond mental health services themselves. They can be community-wide resources.

“Funding allows us to continue to open up doors to have community events, to help provide resource fairs, to allow folks to gain information and connection to the things that they need to support truly having the lives that they know that they deserve,” Jean-Pierre said.

The stakes for protecting New Yorkers’ access to Medicaid mental health services, however, run deeper than the sustainability of any one hospital or provider. Hauptman emphasized that fact in no uncertain terms.

“You take Medicaid away, you will bury children,” Hauptman said. “They will end up in ERs, in psych wards and in graves. This isn’t policy. This is life or death.”

If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK  to 741741.

*Editor’s note: One of City Limits’ funders, the Citizens Committee for Children, is part of the Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids coalition.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

The post New York Health Care Advocates Rally Against Medicaid Cuts: ‘You Will Bury Children’ appeared first on City Limits.

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a warning to Russia, President Donald Trump said Friday he’s ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines “based on the highly provocative statements” of the country’s former president Dmitry Medvedev.

Trump posted on his social media site that based on the “highly provocative statements” from Medvedev he had “ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”

The president added, “Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what impact Trump’s order would have on U.S. nuclear subs, which are routinely on patrol in the world’s hotspots, but it comes at a delicate moment in the Trump administration’s relations with Moscow.

Trump has said that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. He cut his 50-day deadline for action to 10 days, with that window set to expire next week.

The post about the sub repositioning came after Trump, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, had posted that Medvedev was a “failed former President of Russia” and warned him to “watch his words.” Medvedev responded hours later by writing, “Russia is right on everything and will continue to go its own way.”

Medvedev was president from 2008 to 2012 while Putin was barred from seeking a second consecutive term but stepped aside to let him run again. Now deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, which Putin chairs, Medvedev has been known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since the start of the war in 2022, a U-turn from his presidency, when he was seen as liberal and progressive.

He has frequently wielded nuclear threats and lobbed insults at Western leaders on social media. Some observers have argued that with his extravagant rhetoric, Medvedev is seeking to score political points with Putin and Russian military hawks.

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Trump and Medvedev have gotten into online spats before.

On July 15, after Trump announced plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons via its NATO allies and threatened additional tariffs against Moscow, Medvedev posted, “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”

Earlier this week, he wrote, “Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10″ and added, “He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”

Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

By DARIO ARTALE and DAVID BILLER

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — James Atkinson and Samantha Fortino toured a Tuscan vineyard and learned to make pasta and a Bolognese sauce alongside their family and friends in Florence. Atkinson discovered a penchant for chianti, while Fortino fell for Italy’s hugo spritz — a cocktail that posed no risk of staining her wedding dress on July 24.

Italy has hosted a number of star-studded weddings in the past decade, most recently Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez ’s extravaganza in Venice. Away from the spotlight, tens of thousands of ordinary Americans have set their sights on the country for their special day in recent years.

“Weddings in America can be a little too grand and a little bit too big and it ends up not really being about the couple,” said Fortino, 28, a neonatal nurse from Skaneateles, New York. “We both just really wanted something intimate and meaningful.”

Over 15,000 foreign couples wed in Italy last year, up 64% from 2019, the year before the pandemic, according to market research from the Center of Tourist Studies of Florence. Growth was led by U.S couples, who account for almost one-third of that total.

Italy was the top international destination for American couples after Mexico, according to Maryland-based wedding planning website The Knot.

For many Americans, Italy embodies the simple, beautiful romance of a bygone era. Weather is balmy and its varied landscapes, from the sea to the mountains, stunning. The food is familiar and crowd-pleasing. But perhaps the biggest driver of the recent uptick is ample opportunity for a range of outings, which together with the wedding event are alluring for those on a quest for unique, memorable moments — part of a consumer trend termed “the experience economy.”

“In the United States, everything is just more expensive for one night and we wanted to make an experience, so we did two nights here,” said Atkinson, 31, who owns a concrete company. “It just seemed like way more worth it to us to do that and make a trip out of it with our family, our loved ones.”

‘Nobody cancels’

One guest who had never visited Italy was ecstatic about the invite, and took advantage to tack on side trips, first to Venice and then with the wedding crew to Cinque Terre. Another, Gary Prochna, nearly didn’t attend because of work piling up at his paving company. He eventually came around and was floored by the venue — a 15th-century villa with a sweeping view over Florence and its famous Duomo.

“I got married in the United States and our venue was very nice. I thought — until this moment — we had the best wedding,” said Prochna, 68, adding that he now hopes his daughters will get hitched abroad.

More than half of Americans surveyed by Mastercard in January 2024 said they prefer to spend their money on memory-making experiences, and more than a third said they’d plan a whole trip around one particular experience.

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Marcy Blum, a prominent luxury event planner based in Manhattan, said almost 90% of the weddings she plans abroad are in Italy.

“The reason Italy is so popular is because that’s where your guests want to go,” she said. “You send an invitation that you’re getting married in Capri or Positano and everybody comes. Everybody. They want to come. Nobody cancels.”

Jack Ezon, CEO of Embark Beyond, a luxury travel and destination event service also based in Manhattan, said 60% of his company’s events were outside the U.S. before the pandemic. Today it’s almost 90%, nearly all split evenly between Italy and France.

The threat of tariffs under President Donald Trump has given destination weddings a boost. Ezon has moved six events from the U.S. to Europe this year, because people were afraid tariffs on alcohol would cause their bar bill to explode.

Cost comparison

The shift to destinations has benefited planners with networks across Italy and local vendors. According to Wedding Italy, the husband-and-wife team who put on the Atkinson wedding, American clients spend three times as much as Italians, due to more elaborate wedding decor and other events in their multiday lineup.

Average spend on hometown weddings in the U.S. was $32,000 last year, according to The Knot. By comparison, foreigners’ weddings in Italy cost an average 61,500 euros ($70,600) and typically have dozens fewer guests, the Center of Tourist Studies of Florence’s data showed.

In the garden where the Atkinsons held their service, cypress trees swayed in the wind as the bride emerged from the chapel, beaming in her lace mermaid-silhouette gown. She walked down the aisle as speakers played the theme song to Star Wars. It was her sneaky trick to make the groom cry, and it worked like a charm.

Before the exchange of rings, before the lovebirds threw their arms around one another, their officiant said:

“Traditionally I would ask: Is there any reason why this couple shouldn’t be married? But for goodness’ sake – we all flew to Italy and can’t get our points back! So instead I’ll ask: Who here approves of this union?”

Cheers all around.