Care is taxing — in every sense of the word. When our tax dollars flow to billionaire tax breaks instead of to care systems we all need, care becomes emotionally and financially draining — not because of personal shortcomings, but because systems are deliberately designed to fail most people in the U.S. We must redirect public resources from wealth concentration to care infrastructure that serves everyone, not just those who can afford it. Public investments in care create tangible benefits for everyone: stronger communities, more resilient local economies and support systems that work when we need them.
Congress has just voted to extend tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy, and to pay for them, they will have to slash Medicaid and other support systems. Here in the 9th District, more than 180,000 people depend upon Medicaid for their health care. My son Josiah is one of those people. At the age of 32, he woke up one morning with painfully swollen knees. Although he had worked since he was 16, he never had health insurance provided by any job he worked as an adult. He became unable to walk and rapidly lost weight. It took months of testing and trips to low-income clinics to discover he had a rare autoimmune disease that could cause inflammation to his joints and at the base of his spine. Left untreated, it could lead to organ damage and vision problems.
Because we couldn’t afford the right medications, Josiah lost vision in one eye and has trouble walking. All this happened before Medicaid was expanded in 2018 to include adults under the age of 65 and earning less than 138% of the federal poverty level. After his illness progressed, he was able to qualify for Medicaid due to his disability. That gave him access to the right medication that could keep the swelling down.
When Virginia expanded Medicaid, the General Assembly included a “trigger” law that said if federal funding for Medicaid expansion decreased by any amount, then all the people enrolled through Medicaid expansion would automatically lose their coverage. Whether Congress slashes Medicaid by reducing funding for Medicaid expansion, by imposing work requirements (despite the vast majority of working-age recipients already working) or capping costs and reducing access to crucial services, people will lose access to health care. And that means people in the health care industry will lose jobs, and hospitals and clinics, particularly in rural areas, could close. The effects will reverberate far and wide.
Congress wants to take away health care from those who need it so that the wealthy don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes. On this Tax Day, Virginia Organizing and the Americans for Tax Fairness are releasing a report that shows the harm to Virginia of extending tax breaks for billionaires.
Since the tax breaks were first enacted in 2017, the very rich in Virginia have gotten richer. Big corporations have profited, too. They have used their tax breaks to buy back their stocks and enrich their shareholders, instead of focusing on lowering prices. While the ultra-wealthy and mega corporations profited, everyday Americans lost out. If the tax breaks are extended, in addition to receiving $1.811 billion less in federal funding, Virginia would lose 21,600 jobs as well as $167.6 million in state revenue and suffer a $3.778 billion loss in state economic output.
Tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy leave care systems underfunded. That leaves families carrying the weight. When Medicaid and other care programs are cut, the impacts ripple through families’ economic security, workforce participation, health outcomes and community stability. Our fight is to redirect resources from the wealthy few to care systems that serve everyone.
It’s up to us to protect the health and financial security of 100 million Americans and their families by stopping Congress from taking away our health care to finance huge tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Instead, Congress should make health coverage more affordable for everyone by taking profits out of the health care system and putting people’s health first.
Call on your members of Congress and tell them not to take away our health care to give more tax breaks to billionaires, greedy CEOs and price-gouging corporations!
Denise Smith has served as a volunteer member of the Virginia Organizing state governing board for 30 years, working on numerous campaigns, writing tax reform policy and previously serving on the organization’s tax reform committee. Denise is the former co-program director of Wolf Creek Indian Village and Museum and is an author, mother and directly affected community member with a degree in history from Emory & Henry College. Denise lives in Rocky Gap in Bland County.
