The General Assembly has reconvened to consider expanding Medicaid. Approximately 400,000 Virginians would be added to the program. The Federal government will pay for it 100% for the first 3 years. The following 2 years would provide for 90% of the payment. After five years, the federal contribution, if any, is unknown.
People apparently have no idea how many people have no type of insurance. An unemployed male will not get Medicaid in this state. The fact that the person might not be able to find work is irrelevant. Apparently having a child is the secret to being able to get Medicaid. Poor with children. Not all people eligible for food stamps get Medicaid either.
What on earth do people do if they get sick and have no coverage? They go to hospitals and the rest of us eventually pay for it at a ginned up price. I would rather just pay for Medicaid in the first place. It’s an investment.
Shame on those in the General Assembly who are holding out. Their behavior seems unconditionally stupid.
On another note, the Republicans have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood using a budget amendment. Now this is an even dumber path to be on. From Virginia NARAL:
These budget amendments are some of the cruelest attacks we’ve seen. If
passed, the amendments would defund Planned Parenthood and strip funding
for abortion care for low-income women who suffer tragic fetal health
complications. This is yet another attack on low-income and working
Virginians’ access to health care, including cancer screenings,
abortion, and birth control.
Typical. These same people whine and gnash their teeth over abortion and then attempt to defund Planned Parenthood because of misinformation about the organization. Will the GOP delegates vote to provide free contraception to those who would be losing it from Planned Parenthood? I doubt it.
Washingtonpost.com
Even McDonnell knew he needed to expand medicaid – and he did not want to reject it, so he passed it along to the MIRC – Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission. Now, after just coming out of a Republican Governor and Republican House and Republican Senate – the Republican House says that Medicaid needs to be reformed before it can be expanded – why was it not reformed in the past few years? Many of the people with behavioral health issues need the expansion, because guess what – they have no employment to get healthcare benefits.
Moon – good quote on the population – many people do not look or believe the facts and make up who is on medicaid in order to justify who should or should not get it.
I hope the assembly votes to expand Medicaid. Everyone needs access to quality health care.
Yes they do. I will also say there was a great deal I did not know about who is eligible and who is not.
Men have a very hard time qualifying, even if they are unable to find a job.
I hope the assembly votes to expand everyone’s taxes to pay for the Medicaid. From Day one. Because after the fed’l money goes away….we will go broke paying for it. You want to lock the state into another mandatory program? Pay for it.
@Moon-howler
Here in Ole Virginny, we rank #46 in the States in terms of even getting access to Medicaid. But you got it right, Moon, men do have a harder time qualifying and it is a quirk going back to when President LBJ signed the law in 1965. Part of the idea was tying Medicaid to the various programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and related programs such as W.I.C.
Historically, there were more women with children. These were single mothers which included being abandoned by the father fo the children. Not only abandoned in the sense of unwed, but also abandoned just to skip the whole issue of divorce.
Unfortnuately, here we are almost 50 years later and the issue for men getting Medicare still lingers.
@Cargosquid
What is the cost of not expanding medicaid?
Cheaper than expanding it.
Not for three years. What is your basis of comparison? It costs a fortune to have poor people going to the ER. It costs a fortune to have preventable diseases running rampant. Who pays? You and I are the ones who pay.
Some information about the cost of Medicaid from the Medicaid.gov website:
“The Medicaid program is jointly funded by the federal government and states. The federal government pays states for a specified percentage of program expenditures, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).
FMAP varies by state based on criteria such as per capita income. The regular average state FMAP is 57%, but ranges from 50% in wealthier states up to 75% in states with lower per capita incomes (the maximum regular FMAP is 82 %).
FMAPs are adjusted for each state on a three-year cycle to account for fluctuations in the economy. The FMAP is published annually in the Federal Register.”
And from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Medicaid expansion will add very little to what states would have spent on Medicaid without health reform, while providing health coverage to 17 million more low-income adults and children. In addition, the Medicaid expansion will reduce state and local government costs for uncompensated care and other services they provide to the uninsured, which will offset at least some — and in a number of states, possibly all or more than all — of the modest increase in state Medicaid costs. Expanding Medicaid is thus a very favorable financial deal for states.
CBO estimates show that the federal government will bear nearly 93 percent of the costs of the Medicaid expansion over its first nine years (2014-2022). The federal government will pick up 100 percent of the cost of covering people made newly eligible for Medicaid for the first three years (2014-2016) and no less than 90 percent on a permanent basis.
The additional cost to the states represents a 2.8 percent increase in what they would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2022 in the absence of health reform, the CBO estimates indicate.
This 2.8 percent figure significantly overstates the net impact on state budgets because it does not reflect the savings that state and local governments will realize in other health care spending for the uninsured. The Urban Institute has estimated that overall state savings in these areas will total between $26 and $52 billion from 2014 through 2019. The Lewin Group estimates state and local government savings of $101 billion in uncompensated care.”
The idea put forth by people like Cargo and members of our state legislature that the federal government is going to stop funding Medicaid are specious at best. If the federal government goes broke, we have one hell of a lot more to worry about than just Medicaid.
Probably not. The facts point to a net loss to Virginia if they do not adopt medicaid expansion.
Cargo seems to keep forgetting that every uninsured visit to a hospital, ER or Doc in the Box, costs everyone in higher insurance premiums to cover higher costs at these facilities for those who can’t/won’t/don’t pay. In addition, Virginia will lose somewhere between $2 and $5 BILLION for their stingy approach to Medicaid.
What’s happening with the General Assembly? Did they fail to consider expanded Medicaid?
@George S. Harris
I don’t forget that.
It does cost us higher premiums.
Those premiums are STILL lower than what Obamacare is costing us. Or expanded Medicaid.
We will lose NOTHING in the long run because we will not be paying for it after the feds stop paying for it.
We get 5 years of free or 90 percent paid Medicaid. That puts a good dent in it. After that, no promises but…it doesn’t necessarily mean we wont get it.