On the 16th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan Joins Protect Our Care to Call on Congress to Reverse GOP Health Care Cuts

Richmond, Va.- Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) today joined Protect Our Care Virginia to mark the 16th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and hold Republicans accountable for waging an all-out assault on working families' access to affordable, quality health care.

Because March is Women's History Month, speakers also highlighted a new reportfrom Protect Our Care that lays out how the Republican health care cuts have decimated women's health care.

The ACA has saved lives and survived countless attempts at repeal, but Republicans still want to destroy it. This year, Republicans caused premiums to more than double by eliminating the enhanced premium tax credits, and as a direct result, 44,000 Virginiansdropped their ACA coverage during the 2026 open enrollment period and in the month thereafter. Speakers discussed the devastating consequences of forcing Virginia families to choose between health care and other essential expenses, and called upon their elected officials to reinstate the tax credits. Speakers also discussed efforts by Democrats in the General Assemblyto partially backfill the tax credits so that more Virginians can afford their health care.

The ACA also expanded Medicaid, which has been shown to decreaseincome inequality, increaseaccess to preventative care, and save lives. However, Republicans' Big Ugly Law includes the largest cuts to the program in history. These cuts could cause nearly 20 million Americans, including 260,000 Virginians, to lose health coverage that they gained through Medicaid expansion.

"As more Virginians gained health insurance, we saw health outcomes improve as they became connected to medical homes and received preventative and early care rather than showing up to emergency rooms when care was more expensive and often too late," saidCongresswoman McClellan."This in turn took some of the economic stress off of our rural and safety net hospitals, some of which were at risk of closing before Medicaid expanded. Women particularly benefited, and as the new Protect Our Care reporthighlights, women have been able to start their own businesses and purchase insurance for themselves and their employees through the Affordable Care Act. And as someone who nearly died giving birth to my second child, I must say that the ACA, along with the improvements to Medicaid, helped us tackle the deplorable maternal health crisis here in the United States. The enhanced premium tax credits helped keep more Virginians covered when the pandemic hit and increased demand for health insurance. But instead of working to build on this progress, my Republican colleagues in Congress chose to make over 1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in order to pay for billionaire tax giveaways for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos."

"One thing that is often missed is that here in Virginia, 33% of Medicaid expansion enrollees are Black, even though our community is just 20% of the state population," saidAshley Kenneth, President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis."Additionally, there are more women than men who are currently enrolled in our state's Medicaid expansion program, 53% to 47%.Medicaid is a lifeline for many, but it is especially important for women. The program is critical for reproductive health care, covering 41% of child births in the nationand 35% of child birthsin Virginia in 2023. Research from Georgetown found that states that have expanded Medicaid, such as Virginia, saw an increase in women seeking preventative care services like well-woman visits, domestic and interpersonal violence screenings, and breastfeeding support."

"As a recent report from Protect Our Care shows,cuts fall hardest on women - women who are often making health care decisions for their families, yet they feel the impact first," saidKenda Denia, Executive Director of Birth in Color."When health care costs rise and services disappear, these cuts will force women to make impossible choices. Choosing between groceries and doctors visits, between rent and prenatal care. And let's remember, Medicaid covers one in five women who seek family planning services in this country, including contraception and essential GYN care. If these cuts move forward, the consequences will be devastating. People will lose coverage, community health centers will close, rural and urban clinics will disappear, nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers across the country could shut their doors. And when access to care disappears, the maternal mortality crisis will only grow worse."

"Last year, my monthly health insurance was $15 a month. It has gone up to $115, that is roughly one third of my monthly grocery budget, which is insane," said Laura Buller of Charlottesville, who works for a local small business as a dog groomer. "I used to be able to feed two people on that amount, but that is what it costs now to feed one person … what it does is it takes away from most of what I was able to put aside for savings, for emergencies, for my future."

"We applaud Democrats in the General Assembly for working toward a state budget with bold investments in backfilling these tax credits that Republicans in Congress took away, but we reiterate our call to Congress to restore funding for these credits immediately," saidProtect Our Care Virginia State Director KatieBaker. "Every dollar that the Commonwealth spends on cleaning up the mess of Republicans in Congress is a dollar that could have been invested in making health care even more affordable and accessible, rather than in simply trying to stop the bleeding."

Event Assets

• A downloadable recording of the event is HERE
• A shareable recording of the event is posted to Facebook HERE

Event News Coverage

• 13 News Now: (Norfolk) 16 years of the ACA: Virginians face rising health costs, coverage loss
• WVTF: McClellan, advocates call for subsidies to be restored as ACA anniversary approaches
• Courthouse News:As Obamacare turns 16, advocates sound alarm on cuts