Virginia Beach, Va. – In case you missed it: Protect Our Care’s Care Force One arrived in Virginia Beach on Oct. 13 as part of its national “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” bus tour. Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), and Senator Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach) joined storytellers and advocates at the event in calling out Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress for taking a wrecking ball to our health care system.
Across the country, hardworking families are fed up with the growing health care crisis after Trump and Republicans — including Congresswoman Jen Kiggans — slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and gutted Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.
During the event, Virginians impacted by Republican cuts to health care called on lawmakers to enact commonsense health care solutions, including restoring tax credits to lower insurance premiums, reversing devastating Medicaid cuts, expanding Medicare’s power to negotiate lower prices for more drugs and extending those lower prices to all Americans with insurance, penalizing drug companies that raise prices faster than inflation, and protecting patients from high costs by extending the annual $2,000 out-of-pocket cap and the $35 insulin co-pay cap to people with private coverage.
“Already about 100,000 Virginians have lost their Affordable Care Act plans because they can no longer afford it,” said Congresswoman McClellan. “Once Republicans in Congress voted to take away the enhanced premium tax credits that made those plans more accessible, and for those who kept their plans, their premiums have doubled or even tripled. That’s in the midst of a cost of living crisis that’s being driven by reckless tariffs and a war of choice in Iran, with no clear end in sight.”
“Republicans have chosen to make health care more expensive and harder to get just to provide tax cuts for the wealthy,” said Congressman Scott. “We’re serious about delivering an affordable agenda that actually lowers costs for Americans. That’s why I’m calling on President Trump and our Congressional colleagues to reverse the devastating health care cuts, restore affordable coverage, and put the needs of working families ahead of tax breaks for the wealthy.”
“Virginians are sick of it. This ‘beautiful bill’ has punched a statewide hole in our budget, particularly when it comes to making sure and providing health care for Virginians,” said Senator Rouse. “Come January 1st, 2027, we will face approximately a $2.6 billion deficit because of the ‘beautiful bill’. What that means for our local areas and local impacts is local closures, including an urgent care facility, two primary care clinics, eight school-based clinics, and the discontinuation of OB-GYN services at a community hospital. This is an ongoing threat. Health care is not political. It’s a human right, and we need to ensure that every Virginian, every American, has access to affordable health care.”
“Access to care is the reason that I am alive. It is the reason that I’m here,” said Becky Winstead-Roberts of Virginia Beach.“The thing that frustrates me the most is when Congresswoman Jen Kiggans voted for the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’, she said that she was proud to vote for it and I have struggled with that. How can anybody be proud of taking away health care that every Virginian and every American needs?”
“Medicaid is more than a program. It is a promise. It is a promise that dignity does not diminish with age. That disability does not diminish one’s right to be independent, and that home should remain a place that someone belongs if they so choose to be there. It shouldn’t be leverage on privilege and policy because someone decides to make a decision to benefit billionaires,” said Athena Jones of Portsmouth, Chair of the Home Care Chapter of SEIU Virginia 512. “Today, that promise is under attack. Republicans in Congress, including Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, voted for legislation cutting nearly 1 trillion from federal health care over ten years, and an estimated 15 million Americans are projected to lose health care. Apparently Jen Kiggans thinks it’s okay to leverage 15 million lives for tax breaks for billionaires.”
“When families can’t afford health care, is that leadership? No. When seniors must choose between buying groceries and filling prescriptions, is that leadership? No. When politicians protect tax breaks for the wealthy while cutting programs that keep working families alive. Is that leadership? No!” said Eddie Seay of Freedom Virginia. “Well, somebody needs to deliver that message to Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, because Congresswoman, we know how you voted. You voted for that big, beautiful, ugly bill. But there’s nothing beautiful about taking health care away from people who need it. There’s nothing beautiful about Medicaid cuts that threaten health care for children, seniors and people with disabilities.”
“Nine years ago I walked into the doctor’s office with a nagging cough and walked out with a stage four cancer diagnosis,” said Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate.“Luckily, I had good insurance that paid for the chemotherapy and radiation I needed to survive. But I’m sick of watching Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress – including Jen Kiggans — demolish our health care system. Lawmakers need to restore the tax credits that keep premiums affordable, reverse these devastating Medicaid cuts, and make sure people like me can actually afford to survive. Cancer doesn’t wait, and neither should Congress.”
“Families across this country are sick of it, and they’re making their voices heard loud and clear,” said Katie Baker. “Care Force One is hitting the road to put every Republican who voted to gut our health care on notice. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress — including Jen Kiggans — rammed through the largest health care cuts in history, slashing more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and ripping away tax credits to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. They knew exactly what that would do: close hospitals, cause premiums to skyrocket, and make families ration care they can’t afford to skip. What they didn’t count on was how furious people would get once they felt the consequences. We’re bringing this fight to nearly 40 communities over four weeks, and we’re not letting Republicans off the hook. They decimated our health care system to pay for tax cuts for their donors, and this November, they’re going to answer for it.”
Event Assets
- Photos of the event can be downloaded HERE.