Health Care Advocates Rally to Demand Rep. Kiggans Prevent Health Insurance Costs from Increasing
Over 100,000 Virginians are at Risk of Losing their Health Insurance if these Tax Credits are not Extended Permanently
(Photo credit: Bert Sheperd)
Virginia Beach, VA - Yesterday, Affordable Virginia, along with constituents and advocates from across Hampton Roads, gathered outside Rep. Jen Kiggans’ office to demand she support making health care tax credits permanent and reverse dangerous cuts to Medicaid.
Earlier this month, Rep. Kiggans said “we don’t need these,” when referring to essential health care tax credits. With her recent budget vote, she rejected lowering health care costs for families in Hampton Roads.
Watch footage HERE.
(Photo credit: Bert Sheperd)
“Like, Rep. Kiggans, I’m a retired nurse, and I’ve seen firsthand what a difference having access to preventative care makes for families,” said Linda Bennington, resident of Virginia Beach. “I’ve spent my career educating patients about how to look for signs of common diseases. There’s a reason we tell people to wear sunscreen and do at-home breast exams – we know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – and the health care tax credits make that prevention possible. Without them, families aren’t going to pay more for insurance, they’re just going to go without. Getting rid of these tax credits wouldn’t just be an attack on working families, it’s a weight on our entire health care system that will have to shoulder the burden when patients pour into our emergency rooms with treatable diseases they couldn’t afford to treat. Working Virginians deserve better, Rep. Kiggans. Make these tax credits permanent!”
Because of Rep. Kiggans’ vote:
A reported 100,000 Virginians are expected to lose health insurance if these tax credits are cut,
Insurance premiums are projected to increase by 20% or more, and now,
Over 300,000 Virginians are at risk of losing their health care, too.
“When Rep. Kiggans said that ‘we don’t know these,’ I’m not sure who she was talking about,” said Emily Yeatts, Affordable Virginia Campaigns Director. “These aren’t a buy-one-get-one coupon, they’re the difference between a working family seeing a doctor or not. We’re already seeing the dismantling of Medicaid and how that is affecting our entire health care system, with rural hospitals being hit hardest – without these tax credits, that’s only going to get worse. Today, we’re demanding Rep. Kiggans do right by her constituents and uphold the oath she took as a nurse to do no harm. Removing these tax credits is harm defined.”
(Photo credit: Bert Sheperd)
(Photo credit: Bert Sheperd)