Advocates and Constituents Put Faces to Issues after Kiggans’ Votes to Cut Medicaid

Virginia Beach, VA – This week, advocates and constituents from across Hampton Roads delivered the Affordable Virginia storybook to Representative Jen Kiggans’ office. After months of dodging her constituents at town halls between disastrous votes in Washington, we went to her. Each story represents a different struggle being faced by real people from across Kiggans’ district. 

Glenn Harris and Lynn Frieden outside Rep. Kiggans' Virginia Beach office.

“I didn’t plan on becoming a Medicaid advocate, but I also didn’t plan on becoming a full-time caretaker for my son and my parents,” said Bernita Richardson. “Life is always busy, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to make sure that your family has everything they need, and Medicaid makes that possible. With Rep. Kiggans’ vote to slash funding for Medicaid, I’m just waiting to see how those cuts will affect my family. We live on savings and Social Security, and are bracing for higher health care costs, in addition to the higher costs of everything else.”

“A lot of people are scared to admit they receive any kind of assistance, even when they’re a disabled veteran who is just trying to survive,” said Glenn Harris. “I’m a veteran myself and a retired nurse who spent years working with other veterans and their families. Some people don’t realize that dependents of disabled veterans are eligible for Medicaid, and with the cuts being made to other Veterans’ services, this feels like another punch in the gut. We have one of the biggest veteran and military populations of any city in the country, and Rep. Kiggans turned her back on all of them when she decided to cast her vote for the budget.”

“Earlier this year, Rep. Kiggans referred to us as a ‘terrorist organization, ’” said Emily Yeatts, Affordable Virginia Campaigns Director. “That’s a wild accusation, and a quick way to try and dismiss her constituents' concerns – but that is all she has done this year. Vote after vote, she’s doubled down on throwing them under the bus – this budget vote is just the most recent. We came here today to remind her that these concerns are real, that these people have faces and families, and she continues to put their well-being and lives on the line.”

View the Affordable Virginia storybook here.