Advocates for West Virginia Health Care say proposals to cut trillions in federal funding for Medicaid would close rural hospitals and worsen the state’s “crisis” of maternal and child health care, among other things.

Protect Our Care, a national nonprofit focused on protecting health care for Americans, hosted Friday’s press conference with representatives from West Virginians for Affordable Care and Planned Parenthood.

According to Health policy research organization KFFRepublicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are considering policy changes to cut the federal Medicaid budget by $2.3 trillion. Proposals include making Medicaid a block grant program, reducing federal matching amounts, placing caps on the amount of spending per person and imposing work requirements on the health care program.

“These proposals would blow an estimated $235 million hole in the West Virginia state budget and leave tens of thousands of people uninsured,” Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, said Friday.

From OctoberMore than 472,000 West Virginians were enrolled in Medicaid. The joint state and federal health care program covers 72 million Americans. The federal government currently pays about 74% of state expenditures on Medicaid, According to KFF.

Drew Galang, a spokesman for West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, said Friday that the governor is still evaluating state budget items, which he has said has a $400 million deficit and has not outlined any specific proposals.

Medicaid helps fund West Virginia’s rural hospitals, Allen said, by ensuring patients can pay for their care. Rural hospitals in states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act are less likely to close, she said. If Congress cuts Medicaid expansion, more rural hospitals will be forced to close, she said.

“Reducing Medicaid will take health care away from hardworking West Virginia families, instead of helping them,” Allen said. “They deserve better. We deserve better. It is within our power to do this. ‘

Kaylen Payne, health policy analyst for Planned Parenthood, said if Medicaid funding is cut, West Virginia’s already poor outcomes in maternal and child health care would worsen, and pregnant people and newborns would suffer.

“Half of West Virginia counties currently lack adequate health care for mothers and children, with entire counties without birthing hospitals,” she said. “The state’s laws have made the reproductive health desert worse for the people of this state, with doctors fleeing for fear of losing their license to provide life-saving services to minority communities. “

In 2024, the non-profit organization for maternal care March of Dimes gave West Virginia an “F” grade, ranking it 50 out of 50 states for the rate of premature births. More than 13% of the state’s births were pre-term in 2023, a rate that has increased over the past 10 years and is higher than the national average of 10.4%.

West Virginia’s minority population is particularly affected by the state’s poor health and child health outcomes. Black babies are 1.3 times more likely than others to be born prematurely, According to the March of Dimes.

If Medicaid funding is cut, “a rapidly worsening problem will become nothing short of catastrophic,” Payne said. “Deadly prenatal diseases such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes will go undetected and maternal and infant mortality rates will skyrocket.”

Lynette Maselli, state director of Protect Our Care, called Medicaid a “Lifeline.”

“It has kept people employed and rural hospitals open, as well as boosting state budgets,” she said. “But Republicans continue to target Medicaid for deep cuts to fund tax breaks for millionaires. As a result, families, children and seniors may not see a doctor when they need it most. If the GOP has its way, millions of Americans will lose the critical health care coverage they need to stay healthy. “