Cruel Calculus: Reconciliation bill proves an intentional tool to deny healthcare access
Guest commentary by Nancy Heaton
Guest commentary by Nancy Heaton
The reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4th — paying for tax cuts by slashing healthcare access — represents a cruel and devastating blow to rural America. For the 17 towns where northwest Connecticut meets New York’s Greater Harlem Valley, these cuts aren’t abstract policy debates. They’re a direct threat to our neighbors’ survival.
In our 17-town region, the stakes are deeply personal. Based on statewide enrollment patterns, we estimate that roughly 32% of residents across our 52,000-person community — approximately 17,000 neighbors — depend on Medicaid coverage to stay healthy. This includes an estimated 8,000 children, representing about two-thirds of kids in our region. I’m talking about the cashiers at our local market, the home health aides caring for our elderly parents, the restaurant workers serving our families. What’s particularly striking is that 73% of the adults on Medicaid are working — they’re just caught in jobs that don’t offer decent health benefits.
When federal Medicaid funding — $6.6 billion annually in Connecticut and $62.4 billion in New York —gets cut, rural communities like ours face a perfect storm of healthcare collapse.
Rural healthcare operates on razor-thin margins. When Medicaid reimbursements drop, the domino effect is swift and merciless. Community health centers that serve regardless of ability to pay suddenly can’t meet payroll. Emergency departments become overwhelmed as uninsured residents seek primary care there, the most expensive setting possible.
For families scattered across our 17 towns, the nearest hospital might be 30 minutes away on a good day. When facilities close due to funding shortfalls, that distance becomes life-threatening. Transportation services currently provided by healthcare and social service organizations — often the only way elderly and disabled residents reach medical appointments — disappear overnight.
School-based health centers will likely be among the first casualties of healthcare cuts, and our communities will feel this loss acutely. Connecticut’s Region One School District and New York’s Webutuck Central School District have seen tremendous community support for bringing healthcare directly to students during school hours.
These programs aren’t luxuries, they’re necessities born from reality. When Foundation for Community Health began serving this region in 2003, we discovered that 60% of third graders had never received preventive dental care. Not because families didn’t care, but because the nearest dentists were hours away, requiring unpaid time off work that many couldn’t afford.
Over two decades, we’ve learned that preventive dental care correlates directly with overall health outcomes. Yet in February 2025, Community Health & Wellness indefinitely suspended dental services due to Connecticut’s inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates. While other providers across the state may have quietly cut services too, ours was the only publicly announced suspension, a troubling sign that rural communities bear the brunt of funding shortfalls first and most visibly.
Healthcare cuts don’t just affect those who lose coverage, they devastate entire communities. When working families can’t access preventive care, we see sick children in classrooms, spreading illness and hampering learning. Healthcare costs will increase for everyone as emergency departments become primary care providers.
While Connecticut recently raised Medicaid reimbursement rates, the increase falls short of covering actual cost of care. Healthcare providers face rising wages, workforce shortages, and increasing procedure costs, while reimbursements remain inadequate. The math simply doesn’t work.
For rural providers serving large geographic areas with limited patient volumes, these financial pressures become existential threats. When the nearest alternative provider is hours away, losing even one clinic can leave thousands without access to care.
While the Medicaid cuts won’t take effect immediately, the reconciliation bill demands our urgent response now. The next two years present a window of opportunity to make our voices heard —and protect access to care — before these devastating reductions become reality. We still have the infrastructure and services that these cuts will eliminate, but only if we act.
This means reaching out to our representatives with the specific stories of healthcare access challenges in our region — the real experiences of families who drive long distances for routine care, or who delay treatment until conditions become emergencies. We need to share how working families in our 17 towns depend on Medicaid coverage, and amplify the voices of those already harmed by inadequate healthcare funding, like the families who lost access to dental care when Community Health & Wellness suspended services.
This is not the time to be quiet. Rural communities have always been resilient, but we cannot survive the deliberate dismantling of our healthcare infrastructure. Every resident of our 17-town region has a stake in this fight.
The overall health of our community depends on each of us demanding accessible healthcare for all.
Nancy Heaton is the President and CEO of Foundation for Community Health, serving northwest Connecticut and New York’s Greater Harlem Valley. She has over 30 years of experience in public health and has led FCH for 21 years.
While playing outside in the early post-pandemic days, Berkshire Busk! founder Eugene Carr had an epiphany: why not expand the idea of performing on the street (aka busking)into a full-fledged festival in Great Barrington?
As an entrepreneur and cellist, Carr envisioned a well-organized jamboree featuring regional talent, including musicians, acrobats, storytellers, fire-eaters, and more. He formed a team, connected with local businesses and the town of Great Barrington, and launched Berkshire Busk! in 2021. Since then, Berkshire Busk! has grown into a summer staple for Great Barrington.
In the summer of 2024, over 25,000 people experienced Berkshire Busk!. The festival is free to the public, provides a big boost to local businesses, and spectators can tip performers.
Busking takes place all over the world, either organized by individual performers or via busking festivals. Artists like The Roots, Tracy Chapman, Phoebe Bridgers, and Old Crow Medicine Show have all cut their teeth performing on the street.
General Manager Carli Scolforo is a Berkshire native with a love of music and writing. She can often be seen roaming the streets of Great Barrington, making sure everything’s in order, and serves as the festival’s face on social media.
“This year is the fifth anniversary of Berkshire Busk!, and it’s been an amazing summer,” said Scolforo. “We were able to welcome back a lot of our favorite performers, and bring in some new experiences as well. After getting rained out last year, we were able to host our first outdoor movie night in partnership with The Triplex Cinema and the Boondocks Film Society.”
Scolforo added, “This summer, we also introduced our first Open Mic Night, hosted by local recording artist and music producer Jackson Whalan. We were really pleased with the turnout of talent. The sheer amount of talent that’s hidden within an hour or so drive of Great Barrington always astounds us.”
Local businesses sponsor various busking spots, like the Berkshire Money Management Stage in the parking lot between the Triplex Cinema and Mama Lo’s BBQ. Typically, buskers bring their own amplification, while there are few spots — such as Berkshire Mountain Distillery in Sheffield — provide power.
Berkshire Busk! will end its season with a fireworks display on its last night on Saturday, Aug. 30.
Berkshire Busk! is endorsed by the Select Board of the Town of Great Barrington and is entirely supported by sponsorship fees from companies and organizations, as well as philanthropic donations from granting organizations, individuals and the Town of Great Barrington.
It operates under a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires and participates in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program — in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Public Health’s WIC Nutrition Program, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and hundreds of organizations — by making cultural programming accessible to those for whom cost is a participation barrier.
For more information, visit: berkshirebusk.com
What if the dog onstage was played by a person? That’s the delightful twist in A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” opening at the Sharon Playhouse on Aug. 29. In this clever and heartfelt comedy, the title character — a stray pup who disrupts the lives of a married couple — is portrayed not in costume but by an actor who brings insight, charm, and chaos to the role.
Stepping into Sylvia’s paws is Jen Cody, who is returning to the Sharon Playhouse in a starring role for her third year in a row, ready to bring this spirited dog to life. She’s joined by Jonathan Walker as Greg, the middle-aged man smitten with his new four-legged friend, and Jennifer Van Dyck as Kate, his wife, whose patience and identity are tested by Sylvia’s sudden presence in their home.
Directed by Colin Hanlon, this production balances elements of comedy and emotional depth. Gurney’s script may be filled with laughs but at its core, “Sylvia” explores loyalty, companionship, and how love sometimes arrives in unexpected forms. The play premiered Off-Broadway in 1995 and has since become an audience favorite for its wit, warmth, and originality.
Rounding out the cast is Sienna Brann, taking on a trio of roles that highlight the play’s comic versatility. The design team includes Christopher and Justin Swader (scenic), Kathleen DeAngelis (costumes), Bobbie Zlotnik (wigs), Wheeler Moon (lighting), and Graham Stone (sound), ensuring the story is grounded in a fully realized world, albeit one occasionally seen from a dog’s point of view.
Performances run through Sept. 7 at the Sharon Playhouse. For tickets and more information, visit sharonplayhouse.org.
Paul Chaleff’s exhibit at Mad Rose Gallery in Millerton.
The unofficial end of summer is here, and while some of us may mourn the shortening days and cooler nights, the culturally-inclined denizens of the Litchfield Hills, Berkshires and Taconics have plenty to look forward to.
During Labor Day weekend, visit one of the offerings below, and maybe even take home a watercolor, rug, or locally-crafted wooden bowl to ready your home for the indoor season ahead.
Kick off the weekend with libations and bites from legendary New York City importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant at Mad Rose Gallery (5916 North Elm Ave., Millerton). The evening will mark the end of Paul Chaleff’s ceramics exhibition, which closes at the end of the weekend. Ashley Gilbertson and Franco Pagetti’s photography exhibition “Fragments in Time,” which has been extended through Sept. 21, will also be on display.RSVP by emailing info@madrosegallery.com.
Head to the Cornwall Library (30 Pine St., Cornwall) for its seventh annual weekend-long Art Sale, and peruse an endless supply of prints, posters, watercolors, photos, paintings and more, with price tags ranging from a very reasonable $20 to much greater sums.
The Library has announced that this year’s selection will “run the gamut from the antique to the contemporary, from the jazzy and colorful to the classic black and white, from realistic to abstract.” Thanks to generous donors, the sale will feature works from notable artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Enrique Chagoya, Marc Simont, Leonard Baskin, Ruth Gannett, Robert Andrew Parker, Nicole Eisenman, R. H. Quaytman, and others, as well as a special exhibition of vintage photos, paintings and posters from late artist Duncan Hannah.
For more information and hours, visit cornwalllibrary.org/labor-day-art-sale/.
Visit the Barn at the Pine Plains location of beloved antiques and décor purveyor Hammertown (3201 NY-199, Pine Plains) and find the coffee table of your vintage dreams this weekend. Up to 75% off home goods and furniture of all kinds will be available.
This year’s iteration of the biannual tent sale features a “Makers Market” with local artisans, craftspeople and food vendors.
Visit https://shop.hammertown.com/blogs/journal/hammertown-labor-day-tent-sale for additional details and hours.
The Berkshire Woodworkers Guild, a coalition of local woodworkers that supports the local industry and its craftspeople, is hosting its 25th Fine Woodwork Show at the Berkshire Botanical Garden (5 West Stockbridge Rd., Stockbridge) this weekend. Attendees will have the chance to watch 32 masters from around the Tri-Corner region demonstrate their trades, from woodturning and Chinese joinery to boat building and French polishing.
The event will also announce the allocation of $32,000 from its scholarship fund to support 9 aspiring woodworkers, and host a silent auction of guild member-crafted pieces to support next year’s fund. Works from the artisans will also be available for viewing and sale.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ Hot Plate Brewing will provide frothy, local ales for swilling, while SoCo Creamery of Great Barrington will be pedaling its handcrafted ice cream for sweeter options for the whole family. Great Cape Baking Co., from Dover Plains will offer a full breakfast and lunch menu, including donuts, while Pleasant & Main from Housatonic will be providing the caffeine and crepes.Further details can be found at berkshirewoodworkers.org.
Artists across Cornwall will fling open their studio and gallery doors to welcome Labor Day culture ramblers on Saturday afternoon. An eclectic lineup of ten participating artists will show their work, ranging from pottery to sculpture paths, allowing participants a chance to enjoy the fresh late-summer weather as they meander through Cornwall’s green valleys from studio to studio.For a list of the artists, a map, and directions to each studio, visit ornwallct.org/event/cornwall-open-studio-2025/.