Note: This is a guest publication authored by our partners at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The Republicans’ harmful megabill, enacted through budget reconciliation on July 4, will raise costs for West Virginia families and take health coverage, food assistance, and other essentials away from West Virginians who are already struggling to make ends meet — all while showering ever larger tax breaks on the wealthiest households.
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While parts of the law do not require immediate implementation and federal guidance and state implementation will affect the full impact of some provisions, many of the 505,000 West Virginians who get health coverage through Medicaid and the 277,000 West Virginians who receive food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be at risk of losing this assistance that helps them meet their basic needs. Both programs are slated for enormous cuts — well over $1 trillion in total.
Slashing this assistance will hurt a broad swath of families across rural, urban, and suburban parts of the state. For example, based on Congressional Budget Office nationwide estimates, CBPP projects 80,000 West Virginians will lose health coverage and become uninsured in 2034 under the law’s provisions, as well as its failure to extend important tax credits for health coverage.
