WELCH, W.Va. –Community leaders, health care providers, and advocates will be coming together Monday evening to highlight how federal funding cuts will impact health care, food assistance and education in McDowell County.
The federal government has made it known that they are thinking about cutting funding to Medicaid, essential food programs, along with education programs.
Vivian Anderson, President of the Board of Director’s at Race Matter’s Inc, says that most residents in the county live in poverty and she wants to make sure they are informed about the potential reprecussions they face if the cuts go through.
“We’re often times left out of things here in McDowell County, and residents here often times don’t know what’s happening or the representation that they’ve had gives us one set of information that they’re going to do and none of that is done,” Anderson said.
She said that there main concern right now is the cuts targeting Medicaid, however she is also afraid for Medicare.
“A lot of the people here are involved with Medicaid and Medicare, and most of us are retired and are on Medicare,” she said.
If the government cuts funding for Medicaid, that could cause local clinics to cut services or close entirely. The potential closure could force residents to travel longer distances in order to receive care or force uninsured patients to go to emergency rooms to get basic care. Also, with health care, Anderson is worried that cuts could harm the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Another issue that Anderson voiced concerns about was the dismantlement of the U.S. Department of Education. Head Start, which provides essential educational resources to students, and other K-12 programs will be impacted. She said that their schools in the county have test scores that are really low and that they’re currently in the process of building a school to bring together communities and without assistance that could potentially put them back.
Other programs that can be impacted include, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and housing assistance.
Loretta Young, State President for West Virginia NAACP, says that this county will be impacted the most out.
“These cuts will hit McDowell County harder than almost anywhere else in the state,” Young said in a press release. “We are already facing a severe shortage of health care providers, and many residents depend on Medicaid and rural health clinics for basic medical care. If these cuts go through, access to health care in McDowell will become even more difficult, leaving families and seniors without essential services.”
While the presser is going to be used for informing residents, she also wants it to show the state representatives that they affect the county directly and that they oppose the cuts.
“And we want that to be known that we have some opposition to it and what are our representatives going to do to represents us in Washington,” Anderson said.
The event is set to place at the Jack Caffrey Arts and Culture Center in Welch at 6 p.m.