Last night, Republicans advanced a bill containing the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history — a plan that will strip healthcare from millions of Americans to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. According to a new Cardinal News report, the consequences for Virginia are severe: more than 500,000 Virginians stand to lose coverage or see their care drastically reduced with higher co-payments and out-of-pocket costs.

All five Virginia Republicans in Congress have already voted twice in favor of this extreme plan despite its grave consequences for Virginians.

“You don’t have to look any further than this bill to see the truth: when Republicans say they care about working families, they’re lying. Any chance they get, they turn their backs on the most vulnerable Virginians — children, seniors, people with disabilities — all to bankroll tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy,” said DPVA Chairman Lamont Bagby. “This isn’t just reckless policy — it’s a moral failure. When Virginians go to the polls in 2025 and 2026, they won’t forget who voted to take away their health care. That's why they'll vote up and down the ballot for Democrats committed to protecting and expanding affordable care for every family.”

Cardinal News: 4 things Virginians need to know about the Medicaid decisions the U.S. House just made

• "The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees funding for Medicaid, voted along party lines Wednesday to move forward with a spending bill that would enact work requirements for people seeking Medicaid coverage." 
• "The bill also excluded an extension for enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care Act — which expire at the end of the fiscal year. The bill would also require Medicaid recipients under the expansion program to begin to pay co-pays for care, among other measures." 
• "An email from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, circulated among committee Democrats, said that the legislation would lead to a potential total budgetary cut of $912 billion to Medicaid over the next 10 years. That exceeds the initial goal of $880 billion in cuts to the program over ten years [...]" 
• "In total, the number of Americans without health insurance could increase by 13.7 million by 2034, according to the CBO’s estimate." 
• "Statewide, about 480,000 people could be affected by the new work requirements, 147,000 could be affected by new copays for certain services, and 206,000 could lose coverage by the time the spending bill is fully implemented in 2029, according to The Commonwealth Institute’s spokesperson Rodrigo Soto."
• "All of the 480,000 people estimated to be 'affected' in Virginia by changes laid out in the spending bill may not lose coverage, but they may have to work through additional reporting requirements to maintain coverage under Medicaid, Soto said." 
• "More than 450,000 Virginians could be subject to the new requirements, [Hardy] said. And the requirements are expected to hit hardest among individuals who already face barriers to employment or consistent reporting — such as lacking a high school diploma, access to the internet or transportation, or caring for children, elderly relatives, or people with disabilities."
• "Hardy also pointed out that people ages 55 to 64 are more likely to suffer serious health events. In states that did not expand Medicaid, adults in this age group were more likely to die than those in states that did."
• "If the number of Medicaid expansion enrollees drops, so will the influx of federal dollars that help support Virginia’s broader Medicaid program. That could strain the state’s ability to fund other critical services."