What: Community rally to support Medicaid expansion

When: Tuesday, February 5 at noon

Where: Fairfax campus of George Mason University at the George Mason statue (outside of the Johnson Center, click here for a campus map)

Speakers:

            Kathy May, Virginia Consumer Voices

            John Horejsi, SALT Coordinator

            Lesley Katz, George Mason University MSW Student

            Brian Kenny Henriquez-Mercado, directly affected individual

 

Fairfax, Va. – On Tuesday, February 5, Virginia Organizing and Virginia Consumer Voices will rally to show support for Medicaid expansion on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus. Medicaid expansion in Virginia would cover more than 400,000 currently uninsured Virginians at no cost to the state for the first three years while also creating 30,000 additional health care jobs.

 

“Medicaid expansion is a great opportunity for Virginia,” said Virginia Organizing Chairperson Sandra A. Cook. “After this past weekend’s disappointing budget release, we want to make sure legislators know what the people want.”

 

On Sunday, the Virginia House of Delegates Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee released their budget proposals. The proposals indicated that Medicaid should be considered by the 2014 General Assembly only if the federal government grants waivers to reform Medicaid.

Virginia Consumer Voices Director Kathy May said, “We hear stories all the time from people who don’t have insurance because they don’t make enough money. Home health workers, cashiers at grocery stores, the clerks at convenience stores, teacher’s aides, and so many more cannot afford to wait for another General Assembly to make a decision about expansion. These 400,000 people need action now.”

“Virginia Organizing supports common sense reforms to Medicaid, but we don’t think that the expansion should be delayed,” said Cook. “Virginians will forfeit millions of our tax dollars every day this expansion is held up and more than 400,000 will continue to go without health insurance.”

 

For questions or to interview a spokesperson for Virginia Organizing, please contact Amanda Pohl at 804-337-1912 oramanda@virginia-organizing.org.