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Ralph Northam on Health Care |
A: That's something that I have worked on since we were eligible to expand Medicaid. No family should be one medical illness away from financial demise. That's what we are doing to Virginians right now by not expanding Medicaid. There are close to 400,000 WORKING Virginians who don't have access to health care. They end up receiving their care in the emergency room. It is not the place for preventative care. It's very expensive. Every day that Virginia doesn't expand Medicaid, we're not only leaving it on the table, but we're giving to other states we compete with over $5 million a day. Since January 2014, we've given up [billions] to surrounding states. That's money that we'll never get back.
Medicaid expansion has been a legislative priority for state Democrats since Terry McAuliffe's election as governor in 2013. But with a two-to-one majority in the House of Delegates, and a two-seat advantage in the Senate that was reconfirmed in this month's legislative elections, Republicans have been able to prevent the issue from advancing.
Our work is not yet done. Last year, I sponsored legislation that would have had Virginia take a proactive approach to setting up health care exchanges, and I remain committed to lowering insurance costs and expanding coverage to uninsured Virginians. In the Senate I worked to create a pathway to Medicaid expansion because it will save taxpayers billions of dollars and create over 30,000 new health care related jobs in Virginia. We must make the right and prudent decision to expand Medicaid coverage, rather than walking away from federal money that could help make sick people well. Expanding Medicaid means that over 32,000 military and their families will gain health care coverage.