Youngkin, 19 Republican Governors Sign Letter Supporting Bill That Would Cut Billions From Medicaid

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed onto a joint letter with other Republican governors in support of a “big beautiful bill” backed by President Donald Trump that is currently advancing through Congress and would cut $625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade if passed.

The federal program helps states provide health care coverage to low-income people and those with disabilities. Democratic lawmakers, advocacy groups, Medicaid beneficiaries and some Republicans have cautioned against the proposal for months.

“As Republican governors we stand UNITED in strong support of your One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” they wrote to Trump on May 20, with capitalization for emphasis. “This landmark piece of legislation embodies your powerful vision to bring about the next great American revival. It truly delivers on the bold promises all Republicans made to the American people to restore the security, prosperity and fiscal sanity for our nation.”

With billions in cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, education and clean energy programs funding potentially on the chopping block, the huge bill aims to bolster funding for border security efforts and military spending and support tax cuts elsewhere.

While political opponents of Trump have lambasted his proposal for its tax cuts for the country’s highest earners, Youngkin and other governors in their letter state that “we cannot miss this chance to save taxpayers $1.6 trillion over the next ten years.”

They stressed in their letter how the overall package can “give working class families tax cuts worth thousands of dollars each.”

Those cuts could be achieved by expanding the standard deduction and the fulfillment of Trump’s campaign goals to eliminate taxes on tips or overtime pay for hourly and tipped workers.

While eliminating taxes on tips has been hailed as a clear win for workers, the policy’s broader impact remains uncertain. Economists have raised concerns that employers would exploit the measure by shifting more of workers’ compensation to tips than wages. Late last year Youngkin announced plans to mirror Trump’s proposal in the state budget, but it didn’t prevail.

McClellan, Virginia Democrats warn of dire impact to state if proposed Medicaid cuts materialize

U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, has been a staunch critic of the cuts to Medicaid. She warned in a press call last week, after the proposal advanced through a committee she serves on, that “when you kick people off of their health insurance, that raises the cost for everybody else.”

She’d noted how uninsured people are more likely to avoid regular doctor appointments for checkups or to treat chronic conditions — resulting in emergency room visits when dire situations arise. As emergency rooms are federally-required to treat all patients, care for uninsured patients who cannot pay can become a shared financial burden on taxpayers.

Shortly after Youngkin’s joint letter was published, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger weighed in on social media Tuesday night. In a post to X, she emphasized that thousands of Virginians “will lose their healthcare because of this bill.”

“Virginians deserve a Governor who will stand up for their access to affordable healthcare,” she wrote.

A spokesperson for Republican governor nominee and current lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears declined the Mercury’s request to weigh in on the letter.

Either Spanberger or Earle-Sears will become governor and each woman could play a role in shaping Virignia’s future state budget, which would likely need to address federal funding cuts to Medicaid if the bill succeeds this year.

*This is a developing news story and will be updated.

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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