Here are six things to know.
1. Virginia House lawmakers included Medicaid expansion with a work requirement in their initial state budget proposal. On April 13, the House Appropriations Committee adopted a new state budget plan that would toughen the House’s proposed Medicaid work requirement, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
2. The latest proposed Medicaid work requirement stipulates childless adults would be locked out of Medicaid until the next annual open enrollment if they did not meet the work requirement three months out of a year, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Arkansas included the same provision in its Medicaid work requirement. The original Virginia work requirement proposal received criticism from some who thought it was too lenient as it would have operated on the honor system, according to The Washington Post.
3. The Virginia Senate did not include Medicaid expansion in its initial state budget proposal. However, Medicaid expansion is gaining traction in the chamber after Republican Sens. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach and Emmett Hanger of Mount Solon said they’d support expansion, according to the Richmond Free Press. Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has also shown support.
4. Although Mr. Hanger is open to Medicaid expansion, he is opposed to funding part of it through a provider tax on Virginia hospitals, according to The News Virginian.
5. The House is slated to reconvene on the budget April 17 before sending their latest budget proposal to the Senate.
6. If Virginia expands Medicaid, it will join the more than 30 states, plus Washington, D.C., that have already done so. About 300,000 to 400,000 Virginians would reportedly gain access to coverage.
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