"When People Lose Medicaid, They Die": 200+ VA Healthcare Providers Endorse Perriello

200+ VA Healthcare Providers Sound Alarm on Cuts to Services and Spikes in Premiums Caused by McGuire’s Vote for H.R. 1

WATCH THE FULL EVENT HERE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — In case you missed it, Tom Perriello was joined this morning by doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, urging Fifth District voters to head to the polls during early voting. The clinicians in attendance represented more than 216 healthcare providers across the district who have signed an open letter endorsing Perriello's campaign for Congress.

"This group of hundreds of doctors and nurses from around the district has a clear message — we cannot afford two more years of Congressman McGuire’s attacks on our healthcare system," said Perriello. "These frontline healthcare providers are canaries in the coal mine, warning us about the devastating impacts of higher premiums and health clinics closing. A person’s zip code should not be a death sentence, and I am determined to stop this death spiral of rural care and maternal care before the worst parts of McGuire’s bill kick in next year.”

The letter, running as full-page ads in Charlottesville (CVILLE Weekly), Lynchburg (News and Advance), and Danville (Register and Bee), describes a healthcare system in crisis: patients delaying care over copays, insurers overriding clinical decisions, and rural families losing access to primary and maternal care.

"As physicians, nurses and health care providers serving communities across Virginia's fifth district, we see the consequences of a broken health care system every single day," said Emily Little, RN, reading from the letter. Speaking to her own patients, she added: "Every day I see patients who are making choices about which bills to pay. I don't think that any person in this country... should have to choose between paying for medical care for a sick child, medical care for their parents, or food and gas to get to work."

The clinicians tied the crisis directly to Rep. John McGuire's vote for H.R. 1 in July 2025, which they say eliminated $1 trillion from Medicaid — a bill opposed by numerous healthcare organizations.

"Most counties in Virginia's fifth district currently do not have enough primary care providers. Eleven counties in our district have no obstetric care," said Dr. Mo Nadkarni, reading from the letter, noting another labor and delivery unit in Farmville closed in December 2025, citing reduced federal healthcare funding.

Nadkarni, who worked near Farmville 30 years ago when no maternal health providers served the area, said the closure of the obstetrics practice he'd helped establish there hit close to home: "People are dying because of it, and more will die. When people lose Medicaid, they lose their access to health care. When people lose Medicaid, they lose their access to medications. And when people lose Medicaid, they die."

Dr. Bill Fox closed the readings, emphasizing Perriello's rural health care agenda: "Tom's priorities are clear: reverse the funding cuts threatening our rural hospitals, rebuild maternal and primary care, restore the middle-class tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, and support family caregivers who are holding our health system together." Drawing on more than 30 years as a primary care physician, Fox added that unaffordable care "puts [patients] in a really precarious financial situation and has led many into medical bankruptcy," straining emergency rooms and driving up costs "for everyone, not just those without insurance."

Perriello pointed to the scale of the cuts still to come. "We already see devastating results from McGuire’s vote, but the worst damage is set to begin early next year, if this bill is not reversed," he said. "The pullback we've seen in coverage this year is only a painful preview of what will be coming next year if we do not change Congress."

The letter credits Perriello with a record of expanding healthcare access — from voting for the ACA and protections for preexisting conditions in Congress to fighting for Virginia's eventual Medicaid expansion, which extended coverage to 600,000 Virginians. It notes his support for rural clinics in Buckingham and Nelson counties, more than a dozen focus groups held with patients and providers since last spring, and his refusal of corporate PAC and lobbyist money.

Organizers closed with a direct call to action: with early voting underway since Friday, September 18, they urged healthcare workers and patients alike to make their voices heard at the polls.

Event Assets

• The event can be viewed on YouTube HERE. The file, with radio-quality audio, can be downloaded and may be published.

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