This is one of the main areas where Democratic candidates (e.g., Tom Perriello in VA05; see his press release, below) should be hitting their Republican opponents (in this case, far-right-extremist/insurrectionist/MAGA cultist Rep. John McGuire). Why? Because: 1) healthcare is a high-salience issue to the vast majority of voters; 2) the “Big Ugly Bill,” which John McGuire and other Republicans voted for, is doing severe damage to the U.S. healthcare system, Medicaid, etc.; 3) if you live in a rural area, such as in VA05, you could see your hospitals close due specifically to what Republicans like John McGuire voted for, so it is 100% fair to blame this on them. With that, check out Tom Perriello’s press release, about his meeting at the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Nelson County, “with local leaders and rural health care providers from across Central Virginia today to discuss the urgency of continued federal funding for rural healthcare services, particularly mental health services. ”

PERRIELLO: MCGUIRE IS BANKRUPTING RURAL HEALTHCARE

Perriello Tours Rural Health Clinics He Helped to Expand, While McGuire Offers Deep Cuts and More Red Tape and Rules

NELSON COUNTY, VA — Tom Perriello met with local leaders and rural health care providers from across Central Virginia today to discuss the urgency of continued federal funding for rural healthcare services, particularly mental health services. The meeting was held at the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Nelson County, which was able to expand its buildings and services with more than $6.9 million in federal grants secured by Perriello during his previous term in Congress.

“The choice is clear. In Congress, John McGuire voted to bankrupt rural healthcare services, and I fought to expand them,” said Perriello. “In Congress, McGuire handed the insurance companies and Big Pharma more power to deny and delay care to people. I forced them to cover maternal care and mental health services.”

McGuire’s vote for H.R. 1, known as the “Big Ugly Bill,” included massive cuts to Medicaid, a primary source of health care coverage and funding for rural communities in Virginia. Local healthcare providers have also raised urgent concerns about huge new costs for programs that provide affordable prescription drugs in rural communities, known as the 340B program, and red tape within the Medicare system that are increasing delays and denials of care.

McGuire recently visited Central Virginia Health Services in Buckingham County to tout a temporary rural health fund, hoping to distract from his vote for Medicaid cuts that threaten the long-term future of rural providers like it. The irony is hard to miss: McGuire was inside a community health center that expanded with $7.6 million in federal funding secured by then-Congressman Perriello.

The Rural Health Transformation Program returns only a fraction of what H.R. 1 takes out of rural health care. Even these meager funds are only temporary and are not available to several negatively impacted counties in the Fifth District, including Bedford, Campbell, Amherst, and Goochland.

“McGuire voted to gut rural health services and hand all the power back to the insurance companies and Big Pharma to deny families the care they deserve, and he scheduled the worst cuts to hit in January of next year,” said Perriello. “That is a far cry from what folks got when I represented them in Congress: expanded rural health clinics with expanded services, because I put the people ahead of the powerful interests in Washington.”

Perriello has made protecting rural healthcare a central issue in his campaign, including opposing the Medicaid cuts in H.R. 1 and calling for sustained investment in community health centers, rural hospitals, maternal healthcare, and mental health services across Virginia’s Fifth District. He has held more than 20 roundtables across the rural Fifth district, meeting with hundreds of providers and patients about access, affordability, and the state of Virginia’s healthcare system.