Today, Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White, a Medicaid provider, and a patient of Blue Ridge Regional Hospital – one of the five rural hospitals in North Carolina at risk of closing – slammed DC insider Michael Whatley for championing Medicaid cuts that could strip health care from 650,000 North Carolinians and shutter five rural hospitals, which Whatley calls a “huge win.” 

“More than 40% of people in my county are covered by Medicaid, so the GOP’s budget gutting Medicaid will be devastating for our community,” said Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White. “Washington Republicans’ Medicaid cuts will take health care away from more than 650,000 North Carolinians, as well as shift the cost onto rural hospitals and overwhelmed ERs, forcing rural hospitals to shut their doors. All because they wanted to give the wealthiest Americans a tax break. They chose billionaires over middle class, rural families who deserve access to health care.”

“My husband and I have relied on the Emergency Department at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital four times in the last year,” said Lea Charlton, a patient of Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine. “Michael Whatley’s budget puts five rural hospitals across our state at risk of closing, just to give a tax break to billionaires, and Blue Ridge Regional is one of them. If it closes, my husband and I will have to drive an hour to the nearest hospital, and we could lose lifesaving care. We can’t let Michael Whatley anywhere near the U.S. Senate and let him jeopardize rural health care even more.”

“Since Governor Cooper expanded Medicaid for more than 650,000 North Carolinians, it’s been a game changer for my patients. Many of them are finally able to access the care and medications they need, but that could be ripped away for the simple reason that Washington Republicans like Michael Whatley wanted to give billionaires a tax break instead of giving working families health care,” said Beth Kendall, a Physician Assistant specializing in gastroenterology who serves Medicaid patients. “Furthermore, specialty health services like mine are often the first services to get cut in rural hospitals, and the GOP’s Medicaid cuts will only make this worse for rural communities. We must reject Whatley’s Medicaid cuts next November and protect North Carolinians’ health care.”

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