When it comes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement to further cut state-covered Medicaid beginning April 1, on top of his decision to cut Medicaid by one percent, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera told the Norwood News that Bronxites will not be directly impacted.

“The services are still going to be provided,” said Rivera, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, which hears all matters pertaining to health. “You’re not gonna get turned away. You’re not going to be told, we can’t afford to provide this for you.”

But it doesn’t mean the area’s hospitals won’t bleed money, given Medicaid’s ability to help hospitals pay for big ticket infrastructure projects within a hospital, said Rivera.

“They have to put off some of their capital needs in some of their buildings to make sure they could pay the bills,” said Rivera. “Or they have to take particular parts of their operation and make them smaller to be able to cover other financial responsibilities that they may have.” That could also mean basic maintenance of a building could be scaled back, according to Rivera. “If you have an elevator that’s not working, or you have two elevators and only one of them is working, then what kind of impact is that going to have on somebody who has a broken leg who has to go and get their checkup on the third floor?” said Rivera.

Governor Andrew Cuomo instituted a one percent cut for Medicaid on Dec. 31, taking effect immediately. That translates to $124 million when factoring in the federal government’s matching aid.

In his State of the State address on Jan. 8, Cuomo announced a review of Medicaid payments to counties, calling the state’s present situation in covering Medicaid costs to counties as “unsustainable.”

It’s unclear how much more Cuomo looks to cut, a decision promulgated by the state’s $6 billion budget hole Cuomo’s office said is partially caused by Medicaid, where six million New Yorkers depend on it. Thirty percent of Bronx residents depend on Medicaid to cover their hospital bills. For Rivera, he’ll have a greater sense of Medicaid’s fate when Cuomo presents his preliminary budget proposal toward the end of January.

“This is my 10th year in has office. What I’ve learned is that when the Governor says something in a press release or certainly when he says something in a press conference or when he says in the State of the State [address] I don’t trust it until I see it,” said Rivera.

Though April 1 is right around the corner, and Cuomo’s decision to cut Medicaid took effect instantaneously, it hasn’t quite worried the NYC Health + Hospitals, the public hospital system that has oversight on North Central Bronx Hospital.

“It’s really too early to determine any budget impacts on any of our facilities,” said Christopher Miller, a spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals. “We continue to be focused on delivering the best care we can to our patients.”

It has, however, worried Mayor Bill de Blasio, who expressed concerns over Cuomo’s lack of details over his plan during a radio interview on WNYC on Jan. 10. “The Governor didn’t give a lot of detail and that worries me, of course. But I’ll tell you something. I believe that the problem is if the State has a Medicaid problem, then let’s all get to the table and figure out how to save money rather than cut health care services for people,” said de Blasio.