It's time to move forward with Obamacare in Virginia

September 21, 2012

The Daily Press reports, "The number of uninsured Virginians has dropped below 1 million, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, released Thursday. There are still 983,000 Virginians without health insurance, but that's a significant drop from 2010. The most significant change, according to analysis by the independent The Commonwealth Institute, was among those in the 18 to 24 age range."

Progressive Point: Virginians need the security of knowing that when they get sick, they can see a doctor without an enormous bill once they've gotten well.  More than 400,000 Virginians should receive low-cost health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli are playing politics with health care again and are threatening reject coverage for thousands of Virginia families.

We all save money when folks use health insurance and preventative care instead of showing up in the emergency room. But while millions of Americans will get health care coverage under Obamacare, Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli are turning down coverage in order to advance their own political agendas. 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:

• Via the Daily Press:
  • "The number of uninsured Virginians has dropped below 1 million"
  
  
  • "The percentage of those with employer-sponsored coverage increased more than 10 percent in 2011, resulting in more than 41,000 having private workplace insurance."
  
  
  • "The number of uninsured children, age 18 and under, also dropped dramatically, from nearly 11 percent in 2010 to just under 6 percent in 2011."



• 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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