WEST VIRGINIA MEDICAID CUTS: WHAT’S AT STAKE

 

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed the U.S. House by a single vote (215–214) on May 22, 2025. It now awaits Senate action, with Republican leaders targeting July 4.

Source: Herald-Dispatch, June 14, 2025

 

> Both West Virginia House representatives voted in favor of the cuts.

Source: Herald-Dispatch, June 14, 2025

THE IMMEDIATE THREAT

 

$698 billion in national Medicaid cuts over 10 years

Source: Commonwealth Fund, May 2025

 

Up to 40,000 West Virginians could lose Medicaid due to new work requirements

Source: Commonwealth Fund, Table 1.2, May 2025

 

Work mandates alone could cut more than $240 million per year from West Virginia’s Medicaid funding

Source: West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, 2025

 

Between 56,000 and 94,000 West Virginians could lose Medicaid coverage by 2034

Source: State Health and Value Strategies and Kaiser Family Foundation, June 2025

 

West Virginia would lose $6.6 billion in federal Medicaid funds over 10 years, a 13 percent drop

Source: State Health and Value Strategies, June 2025

 

People may die as a result of lost coverage and reduced access to care

Source: Herald-Dispatch, June 14, 2025

 

WEST VIRGINIA’S DEPENDENCE ON MEDICAID

 

34.6 percent of West Virginians are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP — the seventh highest in the U.S.

Source: Medicaid.gov State Scorecard, 2023

 

As of 2023, around 208,000 West Virginia residents were enrolled in Medicaid expansion

Source: Medicaid.gov, 2023

 

More than 500,000 West Virginians rely on Medicaid or CHIP for health coverage

Source: West Virginia Watch, May 22, 2025

 

Medicaid expansion includes adults ages 19 to 64 earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level

Source: Medicaid.gov, 2025

 

ECONOMIC AND JOBS IMPACT

 

West Virginia would lose an estimated 5,800 jobs by 2026

Source: Commonwealth Fund, May 2025

 

Roughly 3,100 of those jobs would be in hospitals and community clinics; the state government is projected to lose $41 million in tax revenue

Source: Commonwealth Fund, May 2025

 

Five West Virginia hospitals are already at risk of closure

Source: West Virginia Watch, March 2025; Rich Sutphin, West Virginia Rural Health Association

 

MISSOURI’S EXPERIENCE AFTER 2005 MEDICAID CUTS

 

Uninsured hospitalizations rose 61 percent

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, “Missouri’s Medicaid Contraction and Consumer Financial Outcomes,” 2020

 

Out-of-pocket health care costs rose 30 percent in the same period

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2020

 

Debt in collections increased by $64 per person

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2020

 

Credit card debt increased over three years by:

 

$558 for near-poverty households

 

$915 for lower-income households

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2020

 

SNAP & MEDICAID CUTS: WV SNAPSHOT

 

Over the past decade, more than 250,000 West Virginians have relied at one time or another on SNAP benefits

Source: Mountain State Spotlight, May 29, 2025

 

Every dollar spent on SNAP returns $1.50 to the economy

Source: Mountain State Spotlight, May 29, 2025

 

About 84,000 West Virginians stand to lose some or all SNAP benefits, with average monthly reductions of $231 per household

Source: Center for American Progress, June 6, 2025

 

Working-age households in the bottom 20 percent of the income bracket could lose an average of $28,000 in lifetime benefits

Source: Penn Wharton Budget Model, May 2025

 

Households in the top 20 percent would receive an average $30,000 tax benefit under the same legislation

Source: Penn Wharton Budget Model, May 2025

 

THE REALITY OF MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS

 

Nearly two-thirds of Medicaid-covered adults in West Virginia were already working full- or part-time in 2023

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, via Herald-Dispatch, 2024

 

Another 29 percent were caregivers, students, or had disabilities or illnesses

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, via Herald-Dispatch, 2024

 

Work-hour requirements often conflict with real-world job conditions such as irregular shifts and inconsistent pay

Source: Brookings Institution, via Herald-Dispatch, 2024

 

There is no evidence that restricting health care access improves employment outcomes, like the unemployment rate

Source: West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, via Herald-Dispatch, June 14, 2025

 

WANT TO SPEAK OR GET INVOLVED?

 

Find someone wearing a blue lanyard to:

 

Sign up to speak. You must be someone who will be impacted, directly or indirectly, by these cuts. Speakers will be given five minutes to read their prepared statements. 

 

Find how else you can share your Medicaid story

 

 SOURCE LINKS

 

American Progress. “West Virginia Families’ Cost of Living Would Increase Under House Republicans’ ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act.’” June 6, 2025. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/west-virginia-families-cost-of-living-would-increase-under-house-republicans-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/

 

Brookings Institution. “Work Requirements and Welfare Reform.” 2024. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu

 

Commonwealth Fund. Ku, Leighton, et al. How Potential Federal Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Could Trigger the Loss of a Million-Plus Jobs, Reduced Economic Activity, and Less State Revenue: Tables. March 2025. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Ku_impact_medicaid_snap_cuts_Tables_final.pdf

 

Herald-Dispatch. Marling, Sierra, and Mike Tony. “Medicaid Saved My Life: Advocates Say Federal Cuts Could Gut Rural Health.” June 14, 2025. https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/medicaid-saved-my-life-advocates-say-federal-cuts-could-gut-rural-health/article_a5321643-766d-44f5-993c-8fe9aed753d2.html

 

Kaiser Family Foundation. “Medicaid Overview.” 2024. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/

 

Medicaid.gov. “Percentage of Population Enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP.” State Scorecard, 2023. https://www.medicaid.gov/state-overviews/scorecard/measure/Percentage-of-Population-Enrolled-in-Medicaid-or-CHIP

 

Medicaid.gov. “Eligibility.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2025. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/index.html

 

Mountain State Spotlight. Tincher, Allen. “West Virginia’s Reps Quiet on Congress Cuts to SNAP.” May 29, 2025. https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2025/05/29/west-virginia-snap-cuts/

 

Penn Wharton Budget Model. “Distributional Impact of the House Budget Plan.” May 2025. University of Pennsylvania. https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu

 

Philadelphia Federal Reserve. Gallagher, Justin, and Daniel S. Hartley. Missouri’s Medicaid Contraction and Consumer Financial Outcomes. Working Paper No. 20-42. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2020. https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/research-and-data/publications/working-papers/2020/wp20-42.pdf

 

West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “Federal Funds Make Up Half of West Virginia’s Budget: Cuts Would Shift Hundreds of Millions in Costs to State.” 2025. https://wvpolicy.org/federal-funds-make-up-half-of-west-virginias-budget-cuts-would-shift-hundreds-of-millions-in-costs-to-state/

 

West Virginia Watch. Tony, Mike. “A Really Bad Deal for West Virginians: Advocates Decry GOP’s Cuts to Health Care, Food Assistance.” May 22, 2025. https://westvirginiawatch.com/2025/03/31/wv-lawmakers-put-medicaid-expansion-trigger-bill-on-inactive-calendar