The Big Ugly Bill signed into law last summer was written to keep us from feeling the worst of the pain of trillions in healthcare and social safety net cuts until after the midterms – smooth move, honestly; that lets people like Ben Cline and John McGuire run for re-election without having to defend cuts that haven’t largely gone into effect yet.
Democrats aren’t taking this sitting down.
Virginia Dems are highlighting three different efforts to help folks from the pinch that is to come in a couple of months – by extension, publicizing these efforts should also remind us what we’re voting for, and against.
I’ll start with Gov. Abigail Spanberger announcing today that Virginia is joining the Governors Public Health Alliance, a coalition of 16 governors working across state lines to strengthen public health.
In recent months, the Alliance has helped states navigate infectious disease threats, changes to federal vaccine recommendations, and challenges affecting disease surveillance and access to reliable public health information.
“When federal guidance shifts, families still need clear answers from people they trust,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Cameron Webb said. “The Virginia Department of Health answers those questions every day in clinics, schools and local health districts across the Commonwealth. The Governors Public Health Alliance connects that work to public health experts across the country, so the guidance we give Virginians stays clear, consistent and grounded in evidence.”
Next up, we have, again from Spanberger, the Virginia United Coalition, a 32-member public/private effort to help Virginians navigate the changes to Medicaid and SNAP – more than 300,000 Virginians covered by Medicaid are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage next year, and we’ve already seen our SNAP rolls decrease by more than 150,000 since the Big Ugly Bill went into law.
Those people just aren’t magically going to stop getting sick or being hungry, as most of us not named Ben Cline or John McGuire well know.
“While there is no way to undo all the harms caused by the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ our Commonwealth is doing everything we can to help eligible Virginians maintain access to coverage and care. At this all-hands-on-deck moment, partners across the Commonwealth are stepping up to help contend with this chaos,” Spanberger said.
To that end, a new campaign calling itself Keep Your Care launched in Virginia on Friday, with a focus on helping people keep their Medicaid coverage as new federal requirements approach.
Through digital advertising, media outreach and partnerships with local organizations, the campaign will work to help folks understand the changes, navigate exemptions and reporting requirements, and connect with resources to stay covered.
Keep Your Care’s Virginia website provides information on the new requirements, potential exemptions and steps Virginians can take to keep their coverage.
“Republicans’ Medicaid cuts threaten to take health coverage away from hundreds of thousands of Virginians and put even more pressure on families and health care providers,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said. “I’ve introduced legislation to reverse these harmful cuts, and I’ll keep fighting to protect access to affordable health care. In the meantime, we need to do everything we can to help Virginians stay covered. Keep Your Care will help people understand the new requirements, navigate exemptions and avoid losing coverage because of red tape.”
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Chris Graham
