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As Congressional Republicans propel a tax plan that would benefit the wealthy at the expense of health insurance and food for the poor, West Virginia’s federal delegation has largely been supportive.
The budget reconciliation bill is the key piece of legislation to pass much of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. Along with making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, the bill calls for cuts to Medicaid and SNAP along with increases in military and border security spending.
Negotiations are underway in the House as some of the most conservative Republicans want deeper spending cuts. It also has to pass the Senate before becoming law.
Under the bill, an estimated 40,000 West Virginians could be tossed off Medicaid, while 28,000 families with children could lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, previously known as food stamps. In West Virginia, 28% of the population receives Medicaid and 16% receives SNAP.
With so many people depending on these programs, experts and advocates say portions of the state’s economy — hospitals and grocery stores — are at risk.
Proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, mainly through new federal work requirements, would save $800 billion and $300 billion respectively over the next 10 years. Nationally, 8.6 million people would lose healthcare coverage and 11 million could lose their SNAP eligibility.
Earlier in the process, all four members of West Virginia’s federal delegation voted in favor of moving the plan forward.
Cuts to these programs that West Virginians rely on to stay alive would go towards tax cuts that mostly benefit those with the most money.
A West Virginia family earning an average income would continue saving $47 a paycheck, based on numbers cited by the U.S. House committee that wrote the tax portion of the legislation
During a press conference last week, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito doubled down on support for the tax cuts, saying she will vote for them again. She said she’s in favor of imposing new federal work requirements on Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 64.
“We don’t want people on Medicaid that don’t qualify for it,” Capito said. “There are people on Medicaid who absolutely have no other choice and need, and have to have, this program for their families and for themselves.”
U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, her nephew, who represents the northern half of the state, also voiced support for work requirements during an interview on MetroNews Talkline last week.
When confronted with the potential of 40,000 West Virginians losing Medicaid, Moore said it was a drop in the bucket compared to the 8.6 million people nationally who could lose their coverage.
“If individuals don’t want to look for jobs, if they don’t want to look for work, then yes, you could lose Medicaid,” Moore said. “But this is fairly straightforward and simple.”
Several years ago, Arkansas tried implementing a work requirement, and all it resulted in was 18,000 losing health insurance with no data showing increases in employment, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Healthcare, said the vast majority of people relying on Medicaid are already employed. But onerous paperwork requirements to verify eligibility will have people lose their coverage on technicalities.
During an interview on Fox News last week, Sen. Jim Justice said while West Virginia has a lot of people on Medicaid — they’re the right kind of people, not “illegals.” The Senator said he supports saving money where they can.
“We can’t have everybody on Medicaid just to say ‘yay, yay, yay,’” Justice said. “If you’re not deserving, then you shouldn’t be there.”
But it’s more than just the recipients who benefit from Medicaid or even SNAP.
Allen noted that hospitals depend on Medicaid for payment from low-income patients — if that population becomes uninsured, she warned it could result in hospital closures. In any given community, those hospitals serve people living in mansions and under bridges alike.
Caitlin Cook, director of advocacy for Mountaineer Food Bank, pointed out that country stores in remote parts of the state rely on a good portion of SNAP to stay profitable — cuts could mean they go out of business.
U.S. Rep. Carol Miller has yet to publicly say anything about how these cuts could have an impact on her district, which represents the southern half of the state and some of the most impoverished counties. Rep. Miller, Rep. Moore and Sen. Justice did not respond to questions from Mountain State Spotlight.
The Facing Hunger Food Bank serves much of the same area of the state. Cyndi Kirkhart, the organization’s CEO, said when people lose SNAP, they rely more on food banks. But the current proposal also cuts federal aid to food banks, which leads to an even tighter squeeze — less resources and more demand.
“We’re willing to be a good foot soldier and support families in need, but you have to help us,” she said.
During Capito’s press conference, the senator argued the cuts in spending would save money to pay for SNAP and Medicaid in the future.
But just as important are tax cuts, she said. Taxpayers and business owners can “keep more of their dollars” and grow the economy through spending or investment.
Tax breaks do result in more economic growth in terms of investment and innovation, said Jared Walczak, an analyst with the Tax Foundation, a center-right think tank in Washington, D.C. However, maintaining government services — even social welfare programs — is just as important.
“There will always be people on those programs and they will always need to be funded,” Walczak said. “These are significant cuts that are being anticipated.”
Samatha Jacoby, an analyst at the progressive-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said she’s skeptical of any claims about tax cuts doing anything more than giving more money to the wealthiest.
She noted the argument for economic growth is typically rooted in corporate, not personal income, tax reductions.
“They’re not even the sort of tax cuts that would have any kind of trickle down effect, even for people who believe in trickle down economics,” Jacoby said.
Reach reporter Henry Culvyhouse at henry@mountainstatespotlight.org
