DEAR EDITOR:

Congress recently passed a budget resolution calling for a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending, with sights set on Medicaid and SNAP, or food stamps. Cutting these programs would be disastrous for the Valley.

Around 3 million Ohioans, roughly 25% of the population, use Medicaid to help pay for essential healthcare, including the disabled, veterans, and retirees: those who can’t work, need temporary support to get back to work, or who have worked their whole lives but can’t afford private insurance. Medicaid supports local hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, funds mental health and addiction treatment, and provides preventative care that lowers health care costs and inflation. All this could go away, and cutting SNAP on top of Medicaid would only ensure that those most likely to lose their health insurance go hungry as well.

Congress will soon pass a final spending package. There is still time for our representatives to do the right thing and stop cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Our families, friends, and neighbors will suffer if they do not.

WILLIAM HARNED

Niles