As a constituent and a concerned citizen of the state of West Virginia I am highly concerned about the proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the Budget Reconciliation bill that was sent to you by the House of Representatives. Please read and respond.

I am a retired teacher and have first-hand experience of the plight of so many of our young students, especially those with disabilities and in foster care. I am speaking for them, as they cannot speak for themselves. And so many of their families (many children are being raised by grandparents) do not have the education or resources to learn the facts about these cuts. They are truly victims of what this proposed budget plans to do.

The role of competent journalism is to report the facts without bias. I prefer to do my own reading and research to obtain the facts and then make up my own mind. I do not appreciate the overuse of the term “fraud, waste and abuse” to excuse a slash and burn approach to programs which are safety nets to the most vulnerable of the American people.

Let’s consider the people of the state of West Virginia. According to data from the Center for American Progress, the number of constituents covered by Medicaid/CHIP is 458,964. That is nearly half of West Virginia’s 2024 population of 1.7 million! With these cuts, district funding loss amounts to $5.67 billion. How is the state of West Virginia going to make that loss up?

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported on March 11, 2025 that the federal government made an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in 2024. Actually, this is a large decline from $236 billion in improper payments in 2023, largely due to the termination of certain pandemic-related programs. Improper payments are errors that can be the result of many things, including overpayments, inaccurate record-keeping, insufficient documentation and do not necessarily indicate fraud or abuse. Programs reporting improper payments included Medicaid — $31.1 billion and SNAP $10.5 billion.

This is nowhere near the amount this bill wishes to cut. An $800 billion cut to Medicaid would reduce the number of people with healthcare by 8.6 million over the decade. In West Virginia, that would mean hospitals in rural areas all over our state might have to close. Our senior citizens will not be able to access the care they need. And what about those in nursing homes?

You report that Medicaid covers an average of 90% of prime age adults who qualify. I believe the bill proposes required work for benefits for those adults. A program like this was instituted during President Clinton’s term in office. My husband allowed several “welfare” recipients to work in the street department for the city of Buckhannon under this program, called the CWEP (community work experience program). He reports that in many cases these folks went on to acquire good jobs and thus bring financial stability to their families. Therefore, I agree with this change. However, I also believe people who receive Medicaid already work one or more jobs. Our cleaning lady, whose husband just underwent extensive surgery, is one of those. She gets up at 4 p.m. to work in a shirt factory, and cleans house to help supplement her income. Would the proposed changes affect her?

Here is my main concern: the cuts are proposed to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. The people who earn the top 1% of money in this country would be helped the most. Where is the reasoning behind these tax cuts? I have seen no reasonable explanation for how these tax cuts would actually work for lower or middle income families. Please don’t use the “trickle down economy” excuse because it has been proven not to work. In fact 90% of the income in this country has shifted to the rich in the last 50 years under just such a reasoning.

You toss out words like “woke.” “radical left,” “deep state” like you are tossing a ball across the steep divide in our nation. What happened to decency, compromise, compassion, and meeting together to solve problems instead of passing draconian bills in the middle of the night?

I implore you and all members of the Senate and Congress: Don’t go back to sleep.

Susan C. Long

Buckhannon