What We're Reading: NY Hospitals Face Budget Cuts; Ford, GE to Produce Ventilators; Judges Halt Abortion Limits

NY Hospitals Face $400 Million Budget Cuts

Ford, GE Announce Production of 50,000 Ventilators in 100 Days

Abortion Ruled as Essential Medical Procedure

With many hospitals and medical workers in New York dealing with the intensifying number of patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a funding cut of nearly $400 million is currently being proposed, limiting government funding to hospitals, according to The New York Times. The budget cut was proposed by a panel that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo convened earlier this year before the severity of the virus took hold, with the intention being to control the state’s growing Medicaid program through identifying savings of $2.5 billion.After President Trump announced this past Friday that he will invoke powers under the Defense Production Act to direct manufacturers in producing ventilators, Ford Motor and General Electric (GE) said they plan to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days. Reported by Reuters, Ford announced that they will produce the ventilators at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with GE’s healthcare unit, with an additional 30,000 ventilators being planned monthly as needed to treat patients with COVID-19. Additionally, General Motors plans to produce up to 10,000 ventilators a month by this summer.Federal judges blocked Texas, Ohio, and Alabama from including abortion as a nonessential medical procedure, which if upheld, would have forced the delay of the surgeries, according to The Wall Street Journal. The states claimed the need to preserve medical equipment coming from abortion clinics for medical workers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas ruling was a temporary restraining order; the judge is expected to consider a longer-term injunction in mid-April.