The Threat of Medicaid Cuts to Arlington's Most Vulnerable

Remarks delivered to the Arlington County Board on March 15, 2025.

I’m here today to voice concerns about an issue that many Arlington residents should be worried about - the potential cuts to Medicaid being threatened by certain members of Congress and officials in the current US administration.

Arlington currently has over 28,000 residents on some form of Virginia Medicaid according to the VA Department of Medical Assistance Services. Of these, more than 8,200 are enrolled under the Medicaid Expansion that was enacted in 2018.

As I’m sure you’re aware, in 2018 Virginia’s legislature also included a provision directly tying this Medicaid expansion to federal funding. Under this so-called “trigger law,” if federal funding for Medicaid falls below the 90% threshold, Virginia’s expanded Medicaid will automatically be cancelled and thousands of enrollees across the state will lose their coverage immediately. This is in addition to the thousands of Virginians who already lost Medicaid coverage during the previous administration’s Unwinding program.

While the state legislature has discussed the issue, they failed to act on it during the most recent legislative session. I’m here today to ask you to consider what we as a county can do to support our most vulnerable residents if this trigger law goes into effect.

I’m also particularly concerned for our immigrant communities who are already under increased threat from an emboldened deportation machine and horribly dehumanizing rhetoric from federal and state officials. Not only will these Medicaid cuts impact funding for the local free clinics that many of our immigrant residents depend on, but they will likely deter many people from seeking preventative care for health conditions that are only going to get worse if left untreated.

I hope that we as a county can work together to protect the health and well-being of our most vulnerable and marginalized residents - whether it’s from disease, the financial burden of healthcare, or the threat of detention and deportation. Let’s remove section 7, expand protections, and keep ICE out of our healthcare facilities and out of Arlington.