By Rebecca Foster

Published in The Daily Progress, November 7, 2013

The federal government is subsidizing the bill to expand Medicaid; expanding Medicaid will actually cost the state less than at the present moment. Virginia’s federal tax dollars are already paying for expansion, so it only seems right take advantage of what we are paying for. After all, that is the fiscally responsible thing to do, isn’t it?

While I do not see any valid reasons not to expand Medicaid, there are countless reasons why we should. Reliable access to health care will make a stronger, more productive workforce; healthier children, who will do better in school; and more efficient use of the emergency rooms and resources that uninsured people currently use for standard health care.

Del. Steve Landes, who represents my part of Albemarle County, is on the Medicaid Reform and Innovation Commission. He strongly opposes Medicaid expansion, claiming that federal funding will run out and Virginia will be left with an expensive problem to solve.

But we have been assured that federal funding will stay at the same level through 2016 and then be reduced by a few percentage points in the following years. The low percentage that the state will be required to pay will be offset by the decrease in uncompensated care costs, the decline in the death rate of working citizens, and the enhanced productivity of a healthy workforce.

Please get in touch with Delegate Landes, and ask him to do what is right for all Virginians.

You can contact Delegate Landes at 540-255-5335.