Earlier today, “in response to a new report from the Joint Commission on Health Care showing that 13 of Virginia’s 36 rural hospitals are at risk of closure, Chair of the Senate Health and Education Committee Barbara Favola and Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee Rodney Willett [joined] Protect Our Care and rural Virginians to discuss how closures of the threatened hospitals would impact their access to health care.” A few key points from the call include:
- According to Sen. Barbara Favola: “We did receive an informational briefing on the impact of HR1 [the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill] on our rural hospitals in Virginia. And we have in Virginia 36 rural hospitals. The report tells us that 13 of those hospitals are at risk of closing or they’re at risk of closing important in-patient services, such as a maternal-child health unit…delivery post-partum care…We’ve got hospitals that may not be providing cardiac services for individuals that may suffer a heart attack…For many years, our rural hospitals have been living on the edge [financially]…but with the HR1 kicking in, the expectation by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is our hospitals across Virginia will lose about $2 billion a year…a combination of things will cause an incredible reduction in revenue to all of our hospitals, and this is going to be particularly impactful to our rural hospitals, who are living very close to the edge in terms of being able to maintain a full range of services…”
- Del. Rodney Willett added: “I will say, we all see a lot of reports in these positions that we hold; this is one of the most disturbing ones I’ve ever read. This is absolutely a crisis that we’re facing in Virginia. The numbers you’ve already heard are stark. The report talks about up to 1/3 of the hospitals closing…what hospitals didn’t make that cut but are…on the edge? And that’s another 18 hospitals. So you could be looking at potentially…close to 70% of the rural hospitals at risk…in the Commonwealth right now…The impacts of the Big Ugly Bill now are forcing these hospitals to look at closure…the math is not working…the changes to Medicaid are making it even more difficult, the hospitals are losing whatever financial flexibility they have is being taken away…These folks want to do the right thing and take care of these rural communities; they can only lose money but so long and stay in business.”
- Ashley Kenneth of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis stated: “Unfortunately, congressional Republicans, including every Republican in Virginia’s congressional delegation, voted in favor of this federal budget bill, which includes over $1.1 trillion in cuts to healthcare spending for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The cuts to Medicaid alone are the largest in the program’s history, totaling over $900 [b]illion and target people who are able to access care because we expanded Medicaid. This massive healthc care spending cut was done in order to partially fund tax handouts for billionaires and corporations. In Virginia, the richest top 1% are expected to see an average tax cut of $80,000 from new tax policies and extending some TCJA provisions. Meanwhile, we expect people making below $31,000 a year to not only see nothing from the tax package, but also for many to see their health care costs go up as Congress requires states to impose cost sharing provisions on people eligible because of Medicaid expansion. These costs could mean the difference between seeking care and paying for groceries.”
- Also, Katie Baker with Protect Our Care made a REALLY important point that I think is well worth emphasizing: “Definitely want to echo what both of the Chairs said about Medicaid expansion being bipartisan. I worked back at the House Caucus at the time, we were fighting for that, and I remember that being bipartisan. But that said…the Republicans are the ones who made the Big Ugly Law partisan. Not a single Democrat voted for it and almost every Republican did, and every Republican in Virginia’s Congressional delegation did, and not a single Democrat in Virginia’s Congressional delegation did. So the scoreboard, the rollcall is what makes it partisan. So I would ask them why they’re voting to cut healthcare. I do appreciate that there are state legislators who are concerned in rural areas, Republican state legislators who are concerned and maybe represent these districts that have hospitals at risk of closure. We need them talking to Congressman Morgan Griffith…Congressman Ben Cline…and Congressman John McGuire and ask them what are you doing and holding them to account for those votes in order for this to be a truly bipartisan issue. But yeah, if Republicans want to come over and vote to reverse these cuts, we would welcome that, and they can make it bipartisan again.”
Brilliantly stated!
