Former Congressman Tom Perriello and Harrisonburg Community Members to Join Protect Our Care Virginia in Discussing New Report Detailing Republican War on Health Care

Since Taking Office, the Trump Administration Has Launched an All-Out Assault on Access to Health Care

HARRISONBURG, Va. — On Tuesday, March 10 at 11:30 a.m. at Sage Bird Ciderworks, former Congressman Tom Perriello and Harrisonburg community members will join Protect Our Care Virginia to discuss a new report kicking off Protect Our Care’s March Madness campaign, which highlights how Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, including Rep. Ben Cline, are turning their backs on the American people and gutting health care coverage to give the ultra-wealthy another tax break. In the first year of his second term, the Trump administration has skyrocketed premiums, raised out-of-pocket costs and slashed Medicaid funding, forcing working families to choose between health care and other basic necessities. 

Thanks to GOP premium hikes, 22 million Americans, including 50,0000 Virginians, will lose their health care coverage entirely this year alone, including small business owners, farmers, and older adults. Meanwhile, due to Trump’s Big Ugly Law, several Virginia hospitals and clinics are closing, have already announced cuts, or are at risk of closure. They include three rural clinics operated by Augusta Health, which attributed the closures directly to the Big Ugly Law. 

As a direct result of the Trump administration’s attacks on health care, enrollment in Virginia’s Affordable Care Act marketplace has already dropped by 44,000, while more than 300,000 Virginians are expected to lose their health care over the next decade between the cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals and rural health care facilities will remain at risk of shuttering, while free clinics will be strained for capacity with the new influx of uninsured patients. Speakers will address how these health care cuts harm Virginians and will hold Trump and his allies, including Rep. Ben Cline, accountable for gutting vital, popular health care programs that Americans across the political spectrum depend on.

WHO: 

• Former Congressman Tom Perriello

• Health care provider Jena Crisler

• Health care provider Makayla Venable

• Health care storyteller Michaela Blosser

• Katie Baker, Virginia State Director of Protect Our Care 

WHAT: Roundtable discussion on new report from Protect Our Care highlighting how Republican attacks on health care will cause Virginians to lose their health care or pay more for it.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

WHERE: Sage Bird Ciderworks. 325 N Liberty St, Harrisonburg, VA 22802

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Protect Our Care is dedicated to making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America. We educate the public, influence policy, support health care champions and hold politicians accountable. We fight to expand access to affordable, high-quality health insurance, lower the cost of health care for individuals and families, and reduce inequities in health care based on gender, income, race, ethnicity, geography, or sexual preference.