EASTVILLE, Va. — Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger today led a roundtable discussion on Virginia’s Eastern Shore with former Governor Ralph Northam, Virginia patients, and local healthcare providers to discuss the Trump Administration’s attacks on Virginia’s rural health centers and the need to protect healthcare coverage for hundreds of thousands of Virginians.
The recently-passed Trump tax law threatens healthcare access for more than 320,000 Virginians who receive coverage through Medicaid and on the Marketplace through the Affordable Care Act. Spanberger’s opponent has praised the law, which also cuts approximately $26 billion in funding for Virginia hospitals, putting at least six rural hospitals across the Commonwealth at risk of closing.
During the roundtable at Eastern Shore Rural Health System’s Eastville clinic, Spanberger made clear that as Virginia’s next Governor, she will always stand up for Virginians’ ability to access healthcare and for the healthcare providers — including in rural and underserved communities — who work tirelessly to deliver lifesaving care to their neighbors.
“I believe that we need to put Virginia patients first. That’s why I’m focused on how we can protect access to safety net providers — the people in this room today — who serve our most vulnerable communities and who will now be contending with the most devastating cuts to healthcare in modern American history,” said Spanberger. “As Governor, I will leverage every resource at Virginia’s disposal to fight back against these attacks.”
Today, Abigail also reiterated her commitment to lowering the cost of healthcare — not taking it away. Earlier this year, Spanberger released her “Affordable Virginia Plan,” which will lower Virginians’ healthcare and prescription drug costs by cracking down on industry middlemen that drive up costs, improving pricing transparency, holding large pharmaceutical companies accountable, and improving healthcare access in rural and underserved communities across the Commonwealth.
Spanberger was joined by former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who spoke about his administration’s work to pass Medicaid expansion and increase healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of Virginians.
“When I became Governor, there was an option through the current system of the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid in Virginia. It hadn’t been done prior to our administration, and there were literally hundreds of thousands of individuals in Virginia that needed access to healthcare. So in a bipartisan way, I reached out to folks on the other side of the aisle, and we were able to expand Medicaid,” said Northam, an Eastern Shore native. “It was really a win-win deal for a lot of people. It was a win for the individuals that lived in Virginia that were either uninsured or underinsured, and it was also a benefit for our hospitals, our providers, and clinics like the one that I worked in.”
BACKGROUND
Spanberger has a proven record of lowering costs for Virginia families and seniors. During her three terms in Congress, Spanberger helped lead the charge to give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices and save taxpayers billions of dollars in the process.
Spanberger also voted to cap insulin copays at $35 per month for seniors on Medicare and cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Virginia seniors. Additionally, President Trump signed into law Spanberger’s effort to make it harder for pharmaceutical industry middlemen — pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — to rip off consumers.
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