Sears backs Trump’s government shutdown and tax law that will take healthcare away from 350,000 Virginians
 

VIRGINIA – New reporting from Axios Richmond details the devastating impact of the government shutdown and Medicaid cuts for Virginia hospitals. Axios Richmond writes: 
 
Nearly a third of Virginia's rural hospitals were at risk of closing in August, per the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform. And last month, Augusta Medical Group announced it had closed three urgent and primary care clinics in southwest Virginia ahead of Medicaid changes.
 
Between the lines: Closures or cutbacks could mean job losses, longer commutes for care and a strain on free clinics, which have said they lack the resources to absorb the surge of uninsured patients if people lose coverage.
 
Axios Richmond: Shutdown and Medicaid cuts deal one-two punch to Virginia hospitals

• Virginia is facing a Medicaid double squeeze: long-term cuts from the GOP overhaul and short-term funding uncertainty from the federal shutdown.
• The big picture: While Medicaid coverage remains intact, safety-net hospitals nationwide could lose billions in payments that help cover care for uninsured and low-income patients if the shutdown drags on.
• That's because a delay in cutting $8 billion in additional Medicaid payments, as part of the Affordable Care Act, expired when funding lapsed last week.
• Two rural hospital support programs also ended, leaving providers unsure whether — or when — the money would be restored.
• State of play: Virginia hospitals and free clinics were already bracing for a Medicaid overhaul, part of President Trump's tax and spending bill, which could strip coverage from nearly 600,000 residents by 2027.
• State hospitals face $2 billion in annual Medicaid cuts once changes go into full effect in October 2027, Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association spokesperson Julian Walker told Axios.
• Walker noted that the uncertainty is happening as hospitals continue to recover financially from the COVID pandemic.
• By the numbers: Nearly a third of Virginia's rural hospitals (9) were at risk of closing in August, per the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform.
• And last month, Augusta Medical Group announced it had closed three urgent and primary care clinics in southwest Virginia ahead of Medicaid changes.
• Between the lines: Closures or cutbacks could mean job losses, longer commutes for care and a strain on free clinics, which have said they lack the resources to absorb the surge of uninsured patients if people lose coverage.

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