Health Care
Smoke and Mirrors Arguments: Debunking the Idea that Free Clinics are Substitutes for Medicaid Expansion
While free clinics do an outstanding job providing vital services to 75,000 low-income uninsured adults each year in Virginia, Medicaid expansion could provide continual coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income Virginians
Virginia lawmakers have a chance to take a big step in addressing the state’s opioid crisis on Wednesday. It’s called Medicaid.
Not expanding Medicaid is shutting the door on the most expansive and effective way to substantially address and begin curbing this epidemic.
Virginians in Every Congressional District Are At Risk From Affordable Care Act Repeal
With the recent release of the House Congressional plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it’s important to take a look at what the ACA has achieved in Virginia over the past few years and what is at stake from repealing it. Minority staff on the Committee on Energy and Commerce have put out a new report looking at the impact of the ACA in each Congressional District. Like in the rest of the country, the ACA has significantly reduced the uninsured rate in each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts.
Session 2017: Key Budget Policy Choices
Key proposed changes to the enacted budget, Ch. 780 click image for pdf...
Studied to Death: Virginia Lawmakers Have An Opportunity to Make Real Progress on Mental Health Reform. Will They?
Today, from a national stand-point, Virginia is recognized as having a mental health system with results well below the national average.
A Glimpse into What Repealing the Affordable Care Act Could Cost Virginia
Repealing the Affordable Care Act without replacement would be a huge step backwards for our economy and the health and economic security of low and moderate-income families throughout the commonwealth. There have been major strides in providing improved and accessible health coverage to millions of Virginians since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Preserving the gains made and improving upon them through any potential “replace” bill needs to be a top priority for Congress.
Early Look: Governor McAuliffe’s Proposed Budget Amendments
Policymakers have been struggling for months with revenue that fell short of forecasts despite a growing economy. Last week, the...
Critical Care, Critical Contributions
Ongoing deliberation in Virginia about the need to expand Medicaid coverage, opportunities to leverage provider assessments to support health care access, and policies to revamp the certificate of public need process in the commonwealth all draw attention to the health care sector’s pivotal role in our economy.
Two Steps Back, One Step Forward: Low-income Virginia workers still unlikely to be offered insurance through their workplace
After several years of decline, Virginia (and the United States as a whole) are finally starting to see an uptick in the share of working-age adults covered through employer-sponsored insurance. This encouraging trend may be explained in part by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. Under the mandate, more firms in 2015 were required to offer insurance to their employees or pay a fine. From 2014 to 2015, 37,000 Virginians gained coverage through increased use of employer-sponsored insurance.