Press Releases

March 18, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) – Following passage of H. Con. Res. 14, the House budget resolution setting up Republicans’ reconciliation legislation to cut Medicaid to pay for lower taxes for the wealthiest Americans, U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) hosted a roundtable discussion with local elected leaders, healthcare providers, advocates, and affected Virginians to underscore the harms of the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts proposed.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, nearly 2 million Virginians on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) would be at risk of losing their health care under Republican budget plans. Virginia is also one of nine trigger states, meaning over half a million Virginians will automatically lose their health insurance if these cuts go into effect, not to mention the healthcare providers that might have to close their doors or limit their services, especially in rural areas.

ALXnow: Congressman Beyer warns of devastating impact of Medicaid cuts

Alexandria Congressman Don Beyer (D-8th) is sounding the alarm about proposed Medicaid cuts that could have devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of Virginians who rely on the program for healthcare.

Beyer hosted a roundtable at his Alexandria office Friday with elected leaders, healthcare providers, advocates, and affected Virginians to discuss the potential impact of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts proposed in a budget resolution passed by House Republicans last week.

“The House passed on a 217 to 215 vote last week the budget resolution that sets up reconciliation,” Beyer explained. “They are looking for $2 trillion in cuts and they charged the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, with $880 billion of those cuts.”

According to Beyer, the Congressional Budget Office indicates these cuts cannot be achieved without reducing Medicaid funding. This poses a particular threat to Virginia, which Beyer describes as a “trigger state.”

“If you cut 1%, all of the Medicaid expansion money goes away,” Beyer said, noting that approximately 681,000 Virginians currently receive healthcare through Medicaid expansion.

DC News Now: Northern Virginians share concern over potential Medicaid cuts to Congressman

Republicans need to slash $880 billion from government programs to pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts. But a new report just out from the Congressional Budget Office says lawmakers can only cut $135 billion without impacting Medicare or Medicaid.

For so many families in the DMV who rely on Medicare or Medicaid coverage, they’re fearful of what these funding cuts will mean. Some said their coverage is so limited already, so any changes could be devastating.

“I don’t know what [my family] would do,” said Mary Lee Ruby, whose grandson had a brain bleed at birth and now requires complete care. Medicaid covers his daycare. “It’s really important that his mother be given the break when he goes to the daycare center during the day, and she gets a chance to do some of the things she has to do.”

Meanwhile, Michael Thomas, whose son has intellectual and developmental disabilities, said his Medicaid waiver allows him to live in a group home with 24-7 care.

“He can have support from care attendants who are well-trained, who understand that, and he’s still within his community,” Thomas said. “Any reduction or elimination of that would be devastating.”

Ruby and Thomas’s stories are just two of many, and central to the roundtable discussion they attended hosted by Rep. Don Beyer (D).

Beyer said he’ll fight the proposed cuts and called on Virginians to share their stories hoping that public opinion can sway his colleagues on the Hill and at the White House.