‘Not on our watch’: McClellan stresses congressional fight to defend Medicaid from potential cuts

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
March 19, 2025

With over one million people in Virginia on Medicaid, about 630,000 of those could stand to lose coverage should Republicans in Congress cut federal funding, Democratic state lawmakers have stressed. U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, added her voice to the chorus of warnings at a press conference at the statehouse on Tuesday afternoon.

Virginia weighs response to potential Medicaid rollbacks affecting 630,000

“We are here to say, ‘not on our watch and not without a fight,’” McClellan said during her visit to Virginia’s Capitol.

She was joined by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield and Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, along with central Virginia residents who shared their experiences with Medicaid as recipients or healthcare providers.

Though it doesn’t name Medicaid specifically, the U.S. House Republican budget plan adopted in February would direct the House Energy and Commerce Committee — which McClellan serves on in the minority party —  to find ways to cut the deficit by $880 billion over the next decade. That committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. 

“(Republican’s budget plan) doesn’t say the word ‘Medicaid’ but you cannot get to $880 billion… without cutting Medicaid,” McClellan said. 

The federal program helps states provide healthcare coverage to low-income earners, as well as those with disabilities or who don’t have employer-sponsored healthcare. When Virginia expanded its Medicaid program in 2018, Virginia’s acute care hospitals stepped up to provide some funding. But trigger language in the expansion means that it could be lost if federal funding changes.

The possibility is troubling for Virginia Democrats, who have been sounding the alarm for months.  A January memo from President Donald Trump to initiate a federal funding freeze earlier this year included a footnote detailing programs that would not be affected — Medicaid was absent from that footnote. Several states also reported brief loss of connection to Medicaid portals, something Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office knew about but did not disclose at the time.

Youngkin’s office knew about temporary suspension of federal aid portals, memo shows

Hashmi and state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, had tried to help Virginia prepare for potential cuts through a state budget amendment, but it didn’t survive negotiations. 

“We’re going to have a lot of figuring out to do and it’s really going to be a struggle to do that,” Deeds said earlier this year. 

Aida Pacheco’s voice strained and eyes welled Tuesday while she described how her daughter is battling breast cancer. Having worked all of her adult life, the diagnosis has left her unable to do so while she is receiving care. 

“She has a fighting chance with Medicaid,” Pacheco said. 

Her voice grew passionate as she described opponents of Medicaid labeling beneficiaries as “abusing the system” or being people who “don’t want to work.”  

“It’s insulting,” she said.

Katina Moss added how each of Virginia’s Medicaid recipients has a story of what it means for them. For Moss, it means being able to have insurance for her own health while she cares for her ill and aging mother. Just as she was launching her own small business, her mother fell ill and needed multiple surgeries. To be able to care for her, Moss has taken “jobs for lesser pay.” 

“I do not intend to be on Medicaid permanently,” she said, but said it has helped her at a time she otherwise would not have health care. “There are too many people who are just one doctor’s visit away from financial ruin.”

It’s stories like theirs that McClellan hopes her colleagues in the nation’s capital will listen to. 

“When they start hearing from their constituents about how much they want them to keep their hands off their health care, they’ll backtrack,” McClellan said. 

In the meantime, there are still steps ahead before more concrete movement on Medicaid specifically could occur. Congressional Republicans are balancing pressure from the Trump administration to move forward on certain tax cuts as well as funding boosts to support military spending and mass deportations of undocumented immigrants with cuts to social programs as possibilities. There is also a reconciliation process likely to kick off next month where lawmakers can further deliberate on budgets.

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