Skip Halpern served as moderator of the Oct. 15 panel discussion on healthcare featuring Dr. Jeffrey Feit, Chief Medical Information Officer for Valley Health; Nicky Fadley, Executive Director of Strength in Peers; and Dan Sullivan with Enroll Virginia.
THIS ARTICLE IS COMMENTARY AND PUBLISHED IN OUR COLUMNS SECTION.
Weekly YouTube show dives into various issues, sites and events in the Page Valley
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Oct. 22 — This week we explore healthcare and how recent federal government cuts to healthcare programs will affect local residents. This issue was discussed in depth at “The Rec” in Luray last week with three experienced panelists. We recorded that discussion featuring Dr. Jeff Feit, Chief Medical Information Officer for Valley Health, who explains why the regional health system will lose $60 to $70 million; Nicky Fadley, Executive Director of Strength in Peers, who will address how her organization lost grant funding; and Dan Sullivan with Enroll Virginia, who will explain how some changes specifically to Medicaid will directly impact local residents.
(Page Valley Livin’~Episode 91 was recorded Wednesday, Oct. 15, and aired Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025).
Coming up on Page Valley Livin’… we will provide more local stories on local people and local issues.
The aim and purpose of these videos is to provide more information about more things that make up the wonderful place we call the Page Valley of Virginia. Serious issues will be handled seriously, while lighter issues may offer more opportunity to have some fun. There is no theme or agenda other than promoting the Page Valley, and trying to better inform the people who both live here and those who love to visit.
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I’m sorry. Is this just a panel whose job is to advocate for the healthcare of illegal aliens? It seems like the panel is exclusively focused on the healthcare of illegals and the profits of Valley Health which claims to be a “non profit” yet posts millions in profit every year from their over a billion dollars of total revenue.
Did you attend the panel discussion? Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were in the audience asking questions about how the Big Horrible Bill will be impacting Page Country residents. The word “immigrant” was never mentioned. Turn off Fox.
Community Works 4Page organized this panel to inform County residents of the impact on them, their families, and friends of recent cuts to healthcare.
The first panelist was Dan Sullivan, a healthcare “navigator” who guides people seeking health insurance. He explained the changed federal rules for coverage under Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and how they will ultimately result in fewer people getting and keeping health insurance. Under the ACA, premiums for 2026 will double, triple, or more, insurance overall will see higher deductibles and out of pocket costs, causing many people to drop their insurance because they can no longer afford it. Under both Medicaid and the ACA, paperwork and bureaucratic red tape for County residents, their families and businesses will increase, again causing many to lose coverage. Fewer people getting and keeping coverage means reduced payments to nursing homes– some of which will be forced to close– and to the hospital.
Dr. Jeffrey Feit of the Valley Health (including Page Memorial) explained that the hospital system is a nonprofit organization, which means it does not have shareholders, it treats all patients regardless of their ability to pay, and any net income it earns is re-invested in the community, for instance, by hiring and increasing wages to staff (including many County residents), upgrading or building new medical facilities, and making grants to other nonprofits in the Valley. (One of those grant helps fund Strength in Peers, a nonprofit that supports residents and families in Page County who struggle with substance use, as the third panelist, Nicky Fadley, explained). The hospital’s current annual net income of $60 million enables it to make those re-investments, but changes to Medicaid and the ACA are projected to entirely wipe out that much or more. Consequently, Dr. Feit explained, it is difficult to imagine how those losses won’t result in reduced medical services to Page County residents.
For more understandng of what the panel discussed, please watch the entire recording, including the many questions and answers in the Q&A session at the end.
Did anyone mention anything about just not doing harmful things to yourself to reduce individual healthcare costs? Things like smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, illicit drug use, eating with a shovel, putting things where things ought not to be put, etc.
I’m sorry. Is this just a panel whose job is to advocate for the healthcare of illegal aliens? It seems like the panel is exclusively focused on the healthcare of illegals and the profits of Valley Health which claims to be a “non profit” yet posts millions in profit every year from their over a billion dollars of total revenue.
Did you attend the panel discussion? Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were in the audience asking questions about how the Big Horrible Bill will be impacting Page Country residents. The word “immigrant” was never mentioned. Turn off Fox.
Community Works 4Page organized this panel to inform County residents of the impact on them, their families, and friends of recent cuts to healthcare.
The first panelist was Dan Sullivan, a healthcare “navigator” who guides people seeking health insurance. He explained the changed federal rules for coverage under Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and how they will ultimately result in fewer people getting and keeping health insurance. Under the ACA, premiums for 2026 will double, triple, or more, insurance overall will see higher deductibles and out of pocket costs, causing many people to drop their insurance because they can no longer afford it. Under both Medicaid and the ACA, paperwork and bureaucratic red tape for County residents, their families and businesses will increase, again causing many to lose coverage. Fewer people getting and keeping coverage means reduced payments to nursing homes– some of which will be forced to close– and to the hospital.
Dr. Jeffrey Feit of the Valley Health (including Page Memorial) explained that the hospital system is a nonprofit organization, which means it does not have shareholders, it treats all patients regardless of their ability to pay, and any net income it earns is re-invested in the community, for instance, by hiring and increasing wages to staff (including many County residents), upgrading or building new medical facilities, and making grants to other nonprofits in the Valley. (One of those grant helps fund Strength in Peers, a nonprofit that supports residents and families in Page County who struggle with substance use, as the third panelist, Nicky Fadley, explained). The hospital’s current annual net income of $60 million enables it to make those re-investments, but changes to Medicaid and the ACA are projected to entirely wipe out that much or more. Consequently, Dr. Feit explained, it is difficult to imagine how those losses won’t result in reduced medical services to Page County residents.
For more understandng of what the panel discussed, please watch the entire recording, including the many questions and answers in the Q&A session at the end.
Did anyone mention anything about just not doing harmful things to yourself to reduce individual healthcare costs? Things like smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, illicit drug use, eating with a shovel, putting things where things ought not to be put, etc.