Doctors, Advocates, and Delegate Call on Rep. Kiggans to Make Permanent Health Care Tax Credits and Open Government

Virginia Beach, VA – This week, Affordable Virginia hosted a panel highlighting impending health care tax credit cuts and how they will impact already struggling communities whose clinics are closing as a result of Medicaid cuts. Virginians are expected to see possible increases in their insurance premiums of up to 167% as a result of rising base premiums and the loss of these critical health care tax credits. Rep. Kiggans claimed that her constituents “don’t need these.”

Watch the full recording HERE.

Dr. Abdul-Mbacke, a doctor in rural Virginia, said, “The cuts passed in the Republican Reconciliation Bill, totaling more than one trillion dollars stripped from Medicaid, threaten to destabilize our rural hospitals and clinics, delaying care for hundreds of thousands of seniors, veterans, and working families. When you take away that funding, you’re closing clinics, laying off nurses, and forcing patients to drive hours for basic care.

Just last month, Augusta Medical Group announced the closure of three rural health clinics serving patients in rural Virginia. Their own statement said it was, ‘part of Augusta Health’s ongoing response to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the resulting realities for healthcare delivery.’ Those realities are that Rep. Kiggans and Republican lawmakers chose to turn their backs on Virginians across the Commonwealth, and especially in the rural parts of the state.”

“I’m a Virginia small business owner and I’m here because the Affordable Care Act saved my life,” said Virginia resident, Laura Packard. “Thankfully, I had good insurance through the Affordable Care Act and not junk insurance like I had before, because I wouldn’t be here without it. Now, Rep. Kiggans has a bill for a one-year extension. We, working families and small business owners, can’t just plan on a one-year extension. Our health and our lives depend on these tax credits. We deserve better from Rep. Kiggans and the Republicans who have shut our government down because tax breaks for billionaires are a higher priority than our health care. Their priorities are seriously out of whack, and they should listen to their own constituents rather than their wealthy donors because we are begging for health care.”