Big Ugly Bill impacts | McClellan travels to Tazewell to address rural healthcare

Republicans in the red part of Virginia won’t meet with their constituents to hear their concerns about the Big Ugly Bill and its impact on rural healthcare, so, Jennifer McClellan, a Democratic congresswoman from Richmond, is doing their job for them.

“Whether it’s in Waverly or Emporia or Tazewell or Abingdon, places that already were healthcare deserts could lose the only providers that are there, because without Medicaid and the funding they receive, they just can’t afford to provide the care,” said McClellan, speaking at an event at the Tazewell County Public Library held on Thursday.

Tazewell County is down in Southwest Virginia; the county seat, Tazewell, is closer to the state capitals in West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina than it is to Richmond.

Tazewell is in the Ninth District, which is represented by a MAGA Republican, Morgan Griffith, who, of course, voted for the Big Ugly Bill, which is cutting trillions from Medicare and Medicaid, threatening the access to health insurance of millions across the U.S., including more than 300,000 in Virginia, with Rural Virginia particularly hard-hit.

“The changes to Medicaid that are rolling out in the coming months will cut off healthcare for many eligible patients,” said Dr. David Mitchell, a hospitalist from Abingdon. “And so, these patients will delay important medical care. They will stop taking medications that they can’t afford, for example. Their medical conditions will worsen, possibly become life-threatening. They will also have an additional fear of potential high medical bills that they simply cannot afford.”

“A few years ago, I took care of five different women during about a year’s span who all had cancer of the uterus,’” said Dr. Bickley Craven, a physician in Abingdon. “All of these women were uninsured and lacked health care coverage and access. All delayed seeking medical attention in spite of having obvious symptoms. When these symptoms of this particular cancer are seen early and the disease is diagnosed and treated early, you can have very good outcomes. Unfortunately, if not, then you often have death, which could be avoided, and unfortunately, some of these women suffered that problem, and it was all because they had no health insurance and delayed seeking care. They didn’t want to put the burden of the expense on their family. The cuts in Medicaid funding planned by the Republicans will cause that scenario to be repeated.”

The impact of the Big Ugly Bill on rural hospitals is particularly scary. More than 300 rural hospitals in the U.S. are at risk of having to close their doors.

Two of those hospitals are in Griffith’s Ninth District – one in Tazewell County, one in Lee County.

Additional hospitals in rural areas that aren’t facing imminent closure are only going to be able to do so by cutting services.

KFF, the former Kaiser Family Foundation, is reporting that rural areas in the Commonwealth stand to lose more in Medicaid spending than those in any other state, with the exception of Kentucky and North Carolina.

“So, you would have more uninsured people who, when they do find care and have to drive even farther to get it, they still won’t be able to afford it. We’re sounding the alarm. It is not too late to turn this around,” McClellan said.