This morning the U.S. House passed a sweeping bill that breaks nearly every promise made by President Trump and our Congressional delegation: it raises grocery and health care costs for tens of thousands of families in West Virginia; takes away Medicaid and SNAP from many eligible individuals who need it; and despite all that still raises the deficit. As a result of this legislation nationwide at least 13.7 million people are expected to see their health coverage taken away and many of the 42 million people who participate in SNAP could lose help affording groceries. Here in West Virginia, an estimated 65,000 residents are expected to lose their health coverage due to new regulatory red tape, while thousands will see their grocery costs increase due to the loss of SNAP.
The WVCBP’s executive director, Kelly Allen, issued the following statement in response.
“West Virginia is among the states most harmed and least helped by this package. One in three West Virginians rely on Medicaid for their health care, and those who aren’t covered themselves rely on a hospital where Medicaid funding helps keep local doctors and services in their communities. One in six West Virginians rely on SNAP to help with grocery costs, and 2,000 West Virginia retailers depend on federal SNAP dollars to keep their doors open. These cuts will harm the families who rely on them, cost thousands of health care and retail jobs, and hurt our state’s economy.
Despite the pain tens of thousands of West Virginia families will face as a result, the cuts to critical programs only partially offset the sweeping tax giveaways to the nation’s wealthiest households, and overall, the package adds trillions of dollars to the national debt. The $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid cost the same as the tax cuts going to households with incomes above $500,000; just one of the cuts to SNAP included in the bill, changes in how the benefit levels are calculated that will impact tens of millions of families, costs the same as the cost of an estate tax cut that helps just 1/10th of 1 percent of ultra-expensive estates. This package picks winners and losers: it makes working class families bear the cost of windfall tax cuts for ultra-wealthy households.
Despite deep public opposition to cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, West Virginia’s House members, Rep. Carol Miller and Rep. Riley Moore voted against West Virginians and in favor of the largest cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in history. Make no mistake—these cuts are deeply unpopular with the majority of West Virginians, who will hold those who vote for them accountable.”
