New Commonwealth Institue report shows Governor's budget proposal will eliminate jobs and services for thousands of Virginians
RICHMOND — Governor McDonnell proposes a set of deep cuts to health care in Virginia that will mean over $800 million in lost business activity in the economy, further increased costs for Virginians with private insurance, near elimination of state support for cost-effective health care providers such as community health centers, and reduced access to needed services for thousands of Virginians.
The Governor's proposed cuts include:
- Cuts of over $802 million from Virginia's Medicaid program.
- Eliminating long term care for over 4,500 elderly.
- Slashing payments for indigent care to public hospitals in the state.
- Imposing a cap for home health care services and weakening the state's safety net service providers.
These cuts sit on top of an already stringent program and at a time of increasing need-the number of uninsured tops 1 million in Virginia-and the share of our workforce who get insurance through their jobs continues to decline impacting thousands of Virginians who can least afford it and who are running out of options in the current tough economy.
