Rural access to maternal care grows ever more challenging, with more than one-third of U.S. counties considered maternity care deserts, and according to a 2022 March of Dimes report, West Virginia received a failing grade for infant and maternal health.

West Virginia has removed 118,000 residents from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) since its eligibility review began this spring. That is quite a stunning number of people impacted — about 13,000 West Virginians are losing their health care coverage every month. They are our friends, neighbors, and family.

I remember my mother — who just celebrated her 91st birthday earlier this month — recalling her three children all having the measles at the same time. As the youngest of three, I have no recollection, but even at the ripe old age of 91 my mother remembers the anguish and exhaustion of caring for all three of us.

Nothing keeps West Virginians up at night like the cost of health care. And with the rising prices of food, rent and child care, too many families are left worrying about how to pay the bills and make ends meet. And to add insult to injury, health care costs perennially outpace inflation and all other staples we depend upon to live.

The federal government is staring down a shutdown. The current spending laws expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30. Without a deal by Saturday night, funding will lapse and many government functions, including some health care programs, will temporarily stop.