By ERIN BECK
Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito wasn’t present at the state Capitol, but Delmar Davis, part of a small group of protesters at the complex, pleaded with her on Wednesday.
(Photo by Craig Hudson)
“I know you have a conscience,” he said. “If you vote right, you can lay down with a good conscience.”
Davis, who has cerebral palsy, relies on Medicaid for in-home care and other supportive services. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the health care reform bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate would cut federal Medicaid spending by $772 billion from 2017 to 2026, resulting in 15 million fewer Medicaid enrollees by that year.
Lacking enough votes to pass the bill, GOP leaders have said they were postponing a vote on the bill until after the July 4 recess. Capito, R-W.Va., has said she can’t support the last publicly-released version of the bill.
“My wife of 22 years, we have our own home because of a program that allowed us to have it but if this is passed, we would lose our home and the people that help us,” Davis, of Charleston, said. “We cannot help ourselves. But we must ask someone to help.”
“Now we have a sword over our neck, and we wonder every morning when we wake up, will they cut our head off?” he said, “Because if this bill passes, it will be like someone cutting all the disability people’s head off. Do we want that? I certainly hope not.”
Davis relies on a disabilities waiver from the state for services. Governor Jim Justice has warned, in a February letter to senators, that a dramatic decline in federal Medicaid funding could lead to the “reduction or elimination of waiver services.”
“Long-term care and home and community based waivers attribute to 33 percent of current [Medicaid] expenditures,” the letter said. “Reductions in federal financial participation would significantly curtail West Virginia’s ability to provide services to our seniors and disabled population.”
The letter was a response to President Trump’s proposed federal budget, which also contained deep cuts to Medicaid.
Tax March, a group that has called on Trump release his tax returns, held a press conference at the State Capitol Wednesday afternoon. Several local opponents of the bill, like Davis, were also present.
Capito, a Republican, and fellow Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., were at White Sulphur Springs playing in the Greenbrier Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday.
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