Health security for thousands of Virginia families at stake

August 20, 2012

The Free Lance-Star reports, "Political leaders in several states have indicated they might not expand Medicaid eligibility [as provided under Obamacare], because doing so would add more costs to an already-expensive and fast-growing program. Virginia is one of those states, and judging by a recent Associated Press article that surveyed states' eligibility thresholds, Virginia is also one of the states in which Medicaid is most difficult to get."

Progressive Point: More the 400,000 Virginians could receive low-cost health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli are playing politics with health care and might reject coverage for hundreds of thousands of Virginians.

The fact is the new benefits are a great deal for Virginia. We all save money when folks use health insurance and preventative care instead of showing up in the emergency room. And for the next 3 years, the federal government will pay 100% of the costs, and after that, Virginia will have to pay no more than 10% of the costs, with the federal government picking up the rest of the tab. That's a return on investment anyone could get behind.

It's clear that McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli care more about their own political ambitions and their big corporate underwriters than they do about middle-class Virginians. Every Virginian deserves to see a doctor when he or she gets sick. Virginians need the security of knowing that when disaster strikes, they can recover without the additional stress of an enormous financial cost.

Get the Facts:

• The Affordable Care Act will replace current Medicaid payments to hospitals who cover low-income patients to help cover the cost of caring for the uninsured with the new Medicaid eligibility expansion. If Gov. McDonnell passes on Virginia's participation in that expansion it could cost Virginia more that $140 million in just seven years. In 2011, Virginia hospitals received over $87.7 in these payments. (The Commonwealth Institute, July 17, 2012)


• McDonnell's failure to implement the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would cost more than 400,000 uninsured Virginians health care coverage that would be fully funded by the federal government for 3 years and and 90 percent funded thereafter. (Virginian-Pilot, July 12, 2012)


• Under the Affordable Care Act, Virginia has to decide by Nov. 16 if it will set up its own state-based health care exchange or use an exchange established and operated by the federal government. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 29, 2012)

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