Medicaid Reform – The Virginia Way
Let’s think through this Medicaid expansion issue. First, everyone wants to make sure that those who need health care assistance have access to it as needed, but how to best do that – for those who are financially less fortunate and need medical assistance and for the taxpayers who have to pay for government health […]
Obamacare's Impact on Virginia
February, 2014 the non-partisan, independent Congressional Budget Office released a comprehensive analysis of the likely employment impacts that Obamacare will have on the economy over the next several years, and its conclusions sent shockwaves through the already heated healthcare debate. Among its many findings, the CBO study estimated that up to 2.5 million workers nationwide […]
Obamacare’s Other Shoe Drops, And How To Catch It
President Obama’s pledge, to the effect, “if you like your health plan, you can keep it,” oft repeated in the run-up to passage of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), has already been condemned as false by no less an authority than The Washington Post. That, however, was before the calendar turned over to 2014 and […]
Medical Care for the Needy
As our state’s General Assembly debates whether to expand the taxpayers’ financed Medicaid to an additional 400,000 of our citizens, we should step back and see what can be done today to reform the current program and help many of those folks who do not have health insurance.There are ways to serve the poor who […]
Expand Free Clinics, Not Medicaid
So, what’s the alternative to expanding Virginia’s Medicaid program? Let an estimated 400,000 Virginians continue without health insurance? That option was workable in the past because the federal government gave financial aid to hospitals to help offset some of the cost of providing health care to indigent patients. But the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is […]
No More Medicaid as Middle-Class Entitlement
When legislators debate expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid program in the 2014 session, they would do well to consider the long-term outlook for Medicaid spending. The program already consumes 17% of the state’s general fund budget, and that percentage will grow relentlessly as the population ages. “Virginia faces an onslaught of frail and infirm elders as […]
Medicaid Reforms that Make Sense
Our Country and our Commonwealth face a significant challenge when it comes to providing health care treatment to an aging population. It is estimated that 10,000 people a day will walk, run or crawl into retirement for many years to come. Regardless of how any of us feel about various proposals to address the health […]
A Medicaid Reform Worth Exploring
Virginia is faced with a serious problem as are all states: the aging population requires us all to figure out how to handle the “costs” that this is going to bring to government and personal budgets. Long Term Care is one of the more important problems facing all families as parents, brothers and sisters and […]
Virginia’s Medicaid Program at a Crossroads
The Virginia General Assembly is grappling with decisions of whether or not to expand the number of individuals served under the Virginia program, the cost of doing so, the consequences of not doing so, and in either case the most cost-effective manner of providing services. The Virginia Association of Personal Care Providers (VaPCP) represents agency-directed […]
Medicaid Expansion in Virginia: Yes, but Reforms First
Medicaid expansion should only take place after real reforms are made to the federal health program for the poor and uncertainties surrounding expansion are eliminated according to a new public opinion survey released last month by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The Jefferson Institute’s survey is made more valid when compared to recent […]