***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY, JULY 10 AT 10:30 AM***
New KFF Analysis Shows Virginia’s Rural Health Care Will Suffer 3rd Biggest-Hit in the Nation
RICHMOND, Va. — On Thursday, July 10 at 10:30 a.m. in the Senate Briefing Room of the General Assembly Building, U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) and Chair of the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee Ghazala Hashmi will join advocates, doctors, and impacted Virginians in discussing how the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history, signed into law over the weekend, will threaten rural hospitals and rural health care — all to fund tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy.
The cuts put 338 rural hospitals, including at least six in Virginia, at risk. If rural hospitals are forced to close, seniors, children, people with disabilities, cancer patients, and people seeking help for substance use disorders will lose access to necessary care.
According to new analysis from KFF, rural areas in Virginia stand to lose $6.8 billion in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. Only North Carolina and Kentucky are projected to lose more.
The ability to access local hospitals can mean the difference between life and death, and can save Virginians hours of travel to access critical care. People across the political spectrum want more access to health care, not less, but despite widespread opposition to the Medicaid cuts, Republicans have charged forward and passed their reckless budget bill into law, with area Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) casting a yes vote. Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed his support for the bill, while Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears broke her silence this weekend to praise the bill for doing “so many great things.”
This event is co-sponsored by SEIU Virginia State Council, Protect Our Care Virginia, and the Committee to Protect Health Care. It is the first of a series of events across Virginia that will highlight how the Medicaid cuts will harm rural hospitals.
WHO:
- U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04)
- Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee Ghazala Hashmi
- Ryan O’Toole, Co-Executive Director of Freedom Virginia
- Victor McKenzie, Executive Director of SAARA of Virginia
- Katie Baker, Virginia State Director for Protect Our Care
- Health care professionals and impacted Virginians
WHAT: Press conference highlighting how Medicaid cuts threaten rural hospitals and rural health care
WHEN: Thursday, July 10 at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Senate Briefing Room. Fourth Floor. Virginia General Assembly Building, 201 N 9th St, Richmond, VA 23219 (public entrance is on Broad Street).
FURTHER BACKGROUND:
- Cardinal News: Virginia hospitals bracing for Medicaid changes
- KFF: How Might Federal Medicaid Cuts in the Senate-Passed Reconciliation Bill Affect Rural Areas?
- Protect Our Care: Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill Will Shutter Local Hospitals And Throw Critical Care Out Of Reach For Millions