Health Care

Virginia’s uninsured rate held basically steady in 2017 at 8.8 percent, according to new data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, maintaining the substantial 3.5 percent reduction in the uninsured rate since 2013. This new data highlights the continued success of the major reforms of the Affordable Care Act, which went into effect in 2014. 

Across the country states are turning to reinsurance pools as a way to decrease health insurance costs and stabilize the individual market.

The rate of female suicide in Virginia has climbed 24 percent since 2010. Nationally, the rate of female suicide has risen 50 percent since 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While males continue to be a large majority of those who die by suicide in Virginia (76 percent in 2016), and the rate has increased for men as well, this trend among women is troubling and requires further examination from Virginia mental health stakeholders. 

Black women in the United States are 3.4 times more likely than White women to die during pregnancy or within one year of pregnancy. These outcomes for pregnancy-related deaths are even worse in Virginia. The passage of Medicaid expansion provides an opportunity to help combat this pressing issue by providing coverage to more mothers and ensuring continued coverage to recent mothers formerly in the coverage gap – if the state makes the health care needs of this population a priority. Simply providing coverage is not enough. Health care providers will need to better address the unique health needs of Black women and the challenges Black women encounter when accessing mental and physical care. 

Special Session: Comparing the governor’s, House, and General Assembly budgets to the FY 2018 budget With no agreement on the...

More than 1,200 people in Virginia died from an opioid overdose in 2017, and hundreds more from other drug overdoses. These alarming numbers are part of a national trend that has seen significant increases in opioid related deaths. To help deal with this crisis, Virginia launched a new program last year called Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services (ARTS). A little over a year into implementation, ARTS is already receiving national recognition for increasing treatment and reducing emergency room visits for people with substance use disorders (SUD). 

The budgets passed by the Virginia House and Senate highlight two different pathways to improve health care access for the commonwealth: one concrete and funded, the other aspirational. While the House has welcomed federal funds to extend health insurance to hundreds of thousands of low-income Virginians, the Senate aims to prioritize individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Unfortunately, the Senate does not have the funding to implement their priorities. But if the Senate agrees to the Medicaid expansion proposal put forth by the House, they could use the savings from that to also help more individuals with ID/DD. The budget impasse could transform to a win-win situation for both chambers. 

The budgets passed by the Virginia House and Senate highlight two different pathways to improve health care access for the commonwealth: one concrete and funded, the other aspirational. While the House has welcomed federal funds to extend health insurance to hundreds of thousands of low-income Virginians, the Senate aims to prioritize individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Unfortunately, the Senate does not have the funding to implement their priorities. But if the Senate agrees to the Medicaid expansion proposal put forth by the House, they could use the savings from that to also help more individuals with ID/DD. The budget impasse could transform to a win-win situation for both chambers.

Many of Virginia’s rural hospitals are facing financial challenges. In 2015, almost half of the state’s rural hospitals were operating in the red, and the situation is projected to get worse in the years ahead. Yet policymakers have an opportunity to help fix this. When the General Assembly returns on April 11 to finish work on the state’s two-year budget, lawmakers will again face the decision of whether to accept federal funds to expand health coverage to more low-income Virginians. When it comes to supporting rural hospitals, the decision is straightforward. Reducing the number of uninsured Virginians through Medicaid expansion will help rural hospitals keep their doors open.