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Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is, of course, doing tremendous damage to our country on a whole host of fronts. One of the worst is when it comes to healthcare, including in many of the very rural communities which voted heavily for Republicans like Donald Trump, Ben Cline, John McGuire, etc. And because of those votes, which in November 2024 handed Republicans control of all branches of government, the harshly negative consequences are now showing up, including here in Virginia. Which is why I would assume that Democratic candidates this fall will be talking a great deal about the Big Ugly Bill’s horrific ramifications, perhaps first and foremost on people’s healthcare – or, if Republicans get their way, lack thereof. With that, see below for two videos: 1) former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA05), who is running against far-right-extremist, MAGA cultist, insurrectionist, etc. Rep. John McGuire (R-VA05); and 2) a Protect Our Care event with Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) and Perriello in Charlottesville, talking about how we are both metaphorically and literally “sick of” Republicans’ horrific cuts to our healthcare.
First, here’s Tom Perriello: “I’m surprised John McGuire didn’t join me in Charlottesville yesterday along with a room full of community members. We were talking about his vote to gut our healthcare and how he and RFK Jr. want AI chatbots replacing doctors and denying care until you are about to die.”
Also, see below for video; per Katie Baker of Protect Our Care – featuring Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) and Tom Perriello:
“Another successful Protect Our Care Virginia panel in the books! Thank you to Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, former Congressman Tom Perriello and all our panelists for helping us sound the alarm on how the $1 trillion in federal health care cuts — which Rep. John McGuire voted for — are driving up costs, ripping away health care, and putting hospitals at risk of closure. Highly recommend Zocalo to anyone looking to hold an event in Charlottesville!”
Rep. McClellan said:
“I was very excited as a member of the State Senate to expand Medicaid and to ensure that more people got healthcare coverage so that they knew they’d have the peace of mind that they could get the care they need when they needed it without going bankrupt. Now as a member of Congress, I sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and last April sat through a 26 and a half hour hearing telling stories about how the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history would impact our communities, would impact patients, would impact providers, and especially in rural areas telling stories – some similar to those you are going to hear today…I’m back in Charlottesville to say, unfortunately, we were right. We were right. We have seen because of the cuts, because the Republicans let the enhanced premium tax credits expire, 100,000 people in Virginia have already dropped their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act because they can’t afford the premiums anymore. In addition to the 13 rural hospitals at risk of closing, at least five providers have already closed their doors...And so I’m here to say we’re sick of it.”
Tom Perriello – who cast a courageous vote for the Affordable Care Act back in 2009 – said:
“I just want to be clear that this policy, this bill was not just cruel, it was incredibly stupid. If the goal was to try to hurt poor people, it was designed in a way that also hurt the middle class. It also hurt small business. And most of all, it hurt rural communities. And it’s just a matter of math. These clinics cannot stay open if they do not have enough paying patients. When you have patients who can no longer pay, they cannot keep their doors open. It was entirely predictable. The clinic leaders all told McGuire and told Cline that they would have to close. We saw three clinics close already. Labor and delivery closed in Farmville and South Boston. We have 11 of the 24 counties in this district no longer have a single OB/GYN operating. And when you think about the impacts of closing rural clinics, it’s not just screwing over rural communities. Where do you think those patients are going? They’re coming to Charlottesville and to Lynchburg where we then have longer wait lines. We have a larger number of uncompensated care. And do you think the insurance companies take the loss? No. They pass it on to the rest of us.
This bill has already been a death sentence for rural communities. If they push us over the cliff in January, our rural health system will never come back….John McGuire and Ben Cline just handed [the insurance companies] a perfect excuse to not cover prenatal and postnatal care, which is that if it’s in your insurance, but you simply can’t access it. What does that mean? As the congresswoman was saying, if you have to drive an hour and a half to get your prenatal care at $4 a gallon of gas, you’re not making that trip. you’re either deciding not to have kids or you’re moving two hours away from your parents and grandparents who are your child care system, your support network. So, we are seeing not just the death of these rural health clinics, but we are seeing the literal death of these communities if people have to move away or choose not to start families.
And the impacts on the rest of us are clear…my premiums went up $400 a month this year. That’s almost $5,000 out of pocket in addition to the higher gas and grocery prices from the tariffs and the war. They’re literally just taking that money out of our pockets in order to give a tax cut to Elon Musk that he’s not even going to notice. So, we have a point right now and I think this is also where McGuire had RFK Jr. to Danville recently and they said the quiet part out loud when asked what they were going to say about this death of our rural healthcare access. They said, ‘well, we think artificial intelligence will be the answer.’ What they’re saying to our rural communities is you don’t get to talk to a doctor or a nurse. You’re going to get your care from a bot that’s going to be driven by an algorithm that denies you care until things get catastrophic enough that you can die in the rescue squad on the way to Richmond or Charlottesville. that’s their answer for rural health in our communities… this is a solvable problem and this crisis to be clear is a man-made crisis and the decision was to deliver this kind of blow to families that are struggling in our communities.”
