The tax credits are ending because policymakers are choosing to end them. Premiums are rising because policymakers are dismantling the support that kept them down. Coverage will be lost because no meaningful replacement was enacted.
New national polling from KFF, a leading health policy nonprofit, shows just how serious the situation is. About 84% of ACA enrollees — including strong majorities across the political spectrum — want Congress to restore the tax credits that help almost 22 million Americans afford coverage. This is not a partisan issue. It is an economic necessity.
Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in rural West Virginia announced it will no longer offer labor and delivery services after April 2026. The decision comes as part of a “reclassification” to become a Critical Access Hospital, a shift the hospital says is necessary under federal policy changes tied to Capito Care — the “Big, Beautiful Bill” — that cuts Medicaid funding by $1.1 trillion.
The tax credits that helped reduce West Virginia’s uninsured rate from approximately 20% to below 6% didn’t vanish by accident. Congress is letting them expire.
Ask yourself: What happens when subsidies collapse and Medicaid shrinks? The answer: Regional hospitals lose reimbursements and must cut back, free clinics see a flood of uninsured people they can’t absorb, working parents drop coverage for their child to afford groceries, and your neighbor halts treatment for diabetes or heart disease.
West Virginians — and every American — deserve far better than this. We must not settle for less. It is time to demand the repeal of harmful Medicaid cuts and insist on the renewal of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits. Our health, our families and our future depend on it.
Long-term Care, WV Medicare & Medicaid | rural health
When private equity enters health care, history shows cost-cutting follows. Staff are pared back, services are trimmed, and the focus shifts from care to margins. Public ownership ensures accountability; private profit motives don’t.
West Virginians don’t want a handout. Capito and Justice did not fight for us. We want a fair chance to live an informed, healthy, meaningful and productive life. Capito and Justice just made life harder.