Medicaid Expansion Passed - What it Means for Healthcare in Virginia

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It's true! After years of advocacy and a long-delayed budget, the Virginia General Assembly passed a state budget that includes the Medicaid expansion coverage created under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Medicaid expansion in the Commonwealth will improve the quality of life for 400,000 Virginians by enabling them to gain access to much needed health care coverage. (Please note: Medicaid expansion deals with eligibility for the Medicaid health care benefit, not the Medicaid Long-term Care benefit that I normally write about). Virginia now joins 32 other states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid coverage. The expansion measure is expected to take effect Jan. 1.

Virginia’s current Medicaid health care program covers approximately 1 million people, so adding 400,000 represents a 40 percent increase — a huge leap for Virginia!

According to Governor Ralph Northam, “This budget is the culmination of five years of effort to bring our taxpayer dollars home from Washington and expand Medicaid. As a doctor, I’m so proud of the significant step we’ve taken together to help Virginians get quality, affordable care.”

What does Medicaid Expansion mean?

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