Build on Medicaid Progress

This is a part of TCI’s “Collective Agenda for Virginia’s Future.” Click here to start at the beginning.

Together, we can…

Everyone in Virginia — no matter how much we make or what language we speak — deserves a strong health care safety net program able to provide critical behavioral, physical, and dental health services in a timely manner.

Years of community advocacy led to Virginia lawmakers expanding access to Medicaid, resulting in greater access to coverage for adults and children and increased financial security for those who enrolled since expansion went into effect in 2019.

Too many of our neighbors go uninsured despite being eligible for Medicaid health coverage due to a lack of knowledge of their options, issues with language access, and administrative barriers to enrolling in and keeping coverage. Once enrolled, some have trouble finding a provider who accepts Medicaid and is accessible to them.

Making sure that the individuals in our communities are healthy will only go towards making sure that the state of Virginia is a place where people can work, spend time with family, and be overall productive members of our community. Together we can make sure Virginia is a state for lovers — lovers of healthy, thriving communities!
Jay B. | K.U.S.P. | Hampton Roads

Virginia lawmakers have not adequately invested in the Medicaid program for years. This leads to long waiting times, going without treatment, or expensive emergency department visits that could have been avoided. And powerful stakeholders have disregarded commonsense solutions to reducing administrative barriers to coverage and improving language access.

What Can We Do?

Virginia lawmakers can build on the progress of Medicaid expansion by removing bureaucratic red tape that stands in the way of enrolling and keeping health coverage. We can modernize and invest in our Medicaid program so more people can access care before health issues become an emergency.

Advance Commonsense Policies

Encourage more providers to accept Medicaid clients by increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Streamline enrollment and reduce admin burden through innovative initiatives, such as building upon Easy Enrollment via state tax forms, that could help enroll eligible people.
Invest in a statewide language access hotline and website available to state agencies, service providers, and Virginia residents.
Increase the number of Community Health Workers (CHWs), who can connect families to health services through a culturally appropriate understanding of a community’s needs, by developing a Medicaid reimbursement model for CHWs.

Learn More & Engage

Join the movement to reduce barriers to Medicaid coverage and services in Virginia led by the Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition. Sign your organization on as a Medicaid access supporter using this form.
Connect to the trained navigators and enrollment experts at EnrollVirginia! if you or a loved one are experiencing difficulty applying for or accessing Medicaid or ACA marketplace coverage.