Congresswoman McClellan to Join Advocates, Doctors and Community Members in Tazewell as Republican Medicaid Cuts Threaten to Close Rural Hospitals Across the Commonwealth
Tazewell, Va. — On Thursday, Aug. 28 at 1 p.m., U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) will join advocates, doctors and community members at Tazewell County Public Library to sound the alarm on the recently-passed Republican cuts to Medicaid that will put rural hospitals across the commonwealth at risk of closure.
Rural hospitals operate on slim margins. Six rural hospitals in Virginia, including one in Tazewell, have been identified as at risk of closure once the Medicaid cuts go into effect. Many others are at risk of cutting services.
The cuts were passed as part of the president and Congressional Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contains the largest cuts to Medicaid in history in order to fund tax breaks that will disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy. As a result, more than 300,000 Virginians are projected to lose their health care. Rural Virginia will be particularly hard-hit, with KFF finding that rural areas in the commonwealth stand to lose more in Medicaid spending than those in any other state, with the exception of Kentucky and North Carolina.
Protect Our Care and The Committee to Protect Health Care have partnered to sponsor the Tazewell event, which is the fourth stop of a statewide tour that also saw events in Richmond, Charlottesville and Roanoke.
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) voted for the cut and praised the new $35 co-pays that — for the first time ever — Medicaid patients will now have to pay for certain services.
Advocates will call for Congress to reverse course and follow the example of Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley who voted for the cuts but has since introduced legislation to restore the Medicaid funding. Rep. McClellan has also cosponsored the Protecting Healthcare And Lowering Costs Act, a bill to reverse all of the healthcare cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including those to Medicaid, and permanently extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
Protect Our Care has launched Hospital Crisis Watch, a website tracking hospitals that have closed or announced cuts as a result of the Medicaid cuts. A rural clinic in Nebraska has already announced its intent to close as a result of the forthcoming cuts.
Penny Blue of Union Hall, who spoke at the tour’s Roanoke stop, was featured in a USA Today story that ran over the weekend on the threat that rural communities face as they anticipate the cuts.
Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears advised Virginians “don’t panic” when a reporter asked for comment about the concerns of rural hospitals.
This event is open to the public.
WHO:
U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04)
Dr. David Mitchell, hospitalist from Abingdon
Dr. Bickley Craven, family medicine doctor from Abingdon
Jason Pritchard, President of the Board of Directors of SAARA of Virginia
Impacted community members
WHAT: Press conference sounding the alarm on the threat that the Medicaid cuts present to rural hospitals
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 28 at 1 p.m.
WHERE:
Tazewell County Public Library Conference Room
129 Main St.
Tazewell, VA 24651
BACKGROUND:
- Protect Our Care’s Hospital Crisis Watch
- Protect Our Care Report: Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill Will Shutter Rural Hospitals, Slash Vital Care, And Leave Entire Communities in Crisis
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