The long process of Virginia trying to add work requirements to Medicaid continues. The state has asked the federal government for permission to impose these conditions. Now we have a chance to influence the federal process of considering whether to grant the waiver.
Our friends in the Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition created a portal for submitting a comment to the state that we sent you a few months ago. If you commented on that portal, your comment will also be submitted to the federal agency. You don’t have to do anything else.
If you didn’t get a chance to submit a comment then, please write one now! The deadline is January 6, 2019. Thousands of Virginians have finally been able to apply for health care coverage. If you are one of those people, write a comment and tell your story.
Work requirements will be a burden for everyone—individuals and families as well as the state. They will lead to tens of thousands of Virginians losing their health care. That’s what happened in Arkansas, where more than 15,000 people have been kicked off of Medicaid this year.
Health care is a human right. Everyone needs health care to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you believe in health care for all, write a comment to protect this program.
Work requirements are counter-productive, wasting funds that could be spent on providing care. Work requirements have been shown to cause people to lose their jobs. They certainly won’t help people with diabetes or substance use disorders get the treatment they need in order to start working again. They won’t help caregivers or people with disabilities take care of themselves and their families.
Public comments make a big difference! Administrators of these programs have to demonstrate that they have taken them into account. Judges take them into account, too. Kentucky’s waiver was thrown out by a federal judge in part because of the thousands of public comments against it.
