The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law by Donald Trump last summer is going to take 300,000 Virginians off the Medicaid rolls, and cut services at Virginia hospitals – the ones that survive the $2.6 billion a year in federal funding cuts.
Keep that in mind when you head to the polls between now and Nov. 3.
The person that we elected governor last year, Abigail Spanberger, signed an executive order on Tuesday directing the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to protect healthcare coverage and food assistance for as many eligible Virginians as possible.
More than 1.8 million Virginians are enrolled in Medicaid, and nearly 800,000 Virginians are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is also at risk under the terms of the OBBB.
“At a time when rising costs — made worse by chaos coming out of Washington — are squeezing families across the Commonwealth and the country, President Trump and Republicans in Washington chose to make the largest cuts to healthcare and food assistance in history,” Spanberger said in a statement on Tuesday.
“These critical programs are not only essential to the health and economic well-being of Virginians, but to Virginia’s economy. In the wake of deep federal cuts that are driving up health insurance premiums, closing rural hospitals, and making it harder for Virginians to see their doctor, I’m committed to doing everything I can to protect Virginians,” Spanberger said.
The policy laid out in the Spanberger EO establishes the following goals:
- Keep every Virginian who remains eligible for Medicaid or SNAP enrolled and covered
- Minimize administrative and procedural barriers to enrollment and renewal wherever federal law affords the Commonwealth discretion
- Provide meaningful opportunities for economic mobility, workforce development, and employment resources
- Provide alternative opportunities for coverage and access to health and food services where feasible
- Build public-private partnerships that bring the Commonwealth’s full civic and philanthropic capacity to bear where state government alone cannot fill the gap left by reduced federal funding
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Chris Graham
