WSNA members in Yakima Valley part of forum on Medicaid cuts

Three WSNA nurses working in the Yakima Valley were among 10 panelists at a community forum in Yakima July 30 to discuss massive cuts to Medicaid that were contained in H.R. 1, the "Big Beautiful Bill ,” signed into law July 4.

In Washington state, Medicaid is known as Apple Health.

In 2023, more than 130,000 Yakima County residents, 50% of the county’s population, were enrolled in Medicaid. Nearly 87% of people younger than 19 in Yakima County use Medicaid.

An estimated 200,000 Washingtonians may lose coverage as a result of these federal Medicaid cuts. Nurses on the panel said they feared that the cuts will mean that people won’t get help until they are really sick—or may go without care at all.

Jacob Garcia, a member of WSNA’s Board of Directors, said the cuts will have a huge impact on area hospitals, many of which get between 25% to 36.9% of gross revenues from Medicaid.

Julia Barcott, a member of WSNA’s Professional Nursing and Health Care Council and an outspoken critic of the Medicaid cuts, was the moderator of the panel.

Panelists represented long-term care providers, farmworkers, advocates for reproductive health, the disabled, homeless people, and others.

Garcia and Barcott wrote an op-ed in The Yakima Hearld-Republic before the final vote on the bill, talking about how the cuts would devastate their community.

They criticized U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, who represents the 4^th Congressional District (which includes the Yakima area) for voting for the bill, which passed the House of Representatives by one vote.

“On the ground, [loss of Medicaid coverage] means patients will put off getting care until their conditions are far more serious and harder to treat. It means emergency room visits that didn’t have to happen if they had received care sooner. It means preventable deaths.”

Among other things, the bill includes a requirement for many Medicaid recipients to document at least 80 hours a month of work, community service, or education. That requirement takes effect January 2027.

In their op-ed, Garcia and Barcott pointed out that the work requirements and accompanying “reporting and re-enrollment red tape” will result in an estimated 31,693 people losing coverage in the 4^th Congressional District alone.

"What his vote really means is cutting off children, families, seniors and single adults with low incomes who were finally able to get health care coverage — and access to care — thanks to the [2010] Affordable Care Act.”

The forum, sponsored by Between the Ridges, a local nonprofit organization that aims to build community, was an opportunity for community members to talk about their biggest fears and what they know.

For more details, see the story, “Speakers talk about how Medicaid cuts will affect the Yakima Valley,” published Aug. 4 in the Yakima Herald-Republic.

See the guest commentary by Julia Barcott and Jacob Garcia, “Medicaid cuts will devastate our community,” published June 26 in the Yakima Herald-Republic.