Virginia Senate approves Medicaid expansion

Virginia is on the cusp of expanding Medicaid after the Senate on Wednesday narrowly approved a budget that would allow the state to cover as many as 400,000 low-income people.

The House, which already voted in favor of expansion earlier this year, will have to vote again before the bill can go to Gov. Ralph Northam (D). Northam has made expansion one of the top priorities of his administration.

When it passes, Virginia will become the 33rd state, along with Washington, D.C., to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare.

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The 23-17 vote for expansion is a major victory for Virginia Democrats and other ObamaCare advocates, who have been fighting for six years to convince enough Republicans in the state to accept federal money to pay for the expansion.

“We have the ability to move something through that’s very sure in these uncertain times,” said Sen. Emmett Hanger, Jr., (R), the sponsor of the Medicaid expansion compromise bill. “We can develop a uniquely Virginia plan. While it draws from the experience of many states that have been out there before us, it will serve our citizens.”

Northam’s predecessor, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), was unable to get Republicans in the state to expand Medicaid, but Democrats in the state have been gaining power and nearly flipped the state’s House of Delegates in November.

Under ObamaCare, the federal government originally covered 100 percent of the costs of states that expanded Medicaid beginning in 2014. In 2017, the federal share dropped to 95 percent; it will drop to 90 percent in 2020, but never fall below that amount.

The Virginia expansion relies on provider taxes as a way to raise money.

The expansion agreement comes at a cost for Democrats, as the state will eventually submit a waiver request to the federal government to impose work requirements and premiums on beneficiaries who earn more than the federal poverty level.

The Trump administration has made state innovation a priority and has promised to fast-track Medicaid waivers, especially those that will impose work requirements on beneficiaries.

Four states have been granted permission to do so — Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana and New Hampshire — and six others have pending waivers.

Virginia has yet to work out the final details of the work requirement, but Senate proponents of the policy rejected arguments from expansion opponents that the requirement would be weak and unenforceable.

Northam has not said he supports work requirements, but he has said he will sign any legislation that expands Medicaid.

National Republicans have been attempting to derail Medicaid expansion in Virginia. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in March urged Virginia not to pursue expansion, saying it was unsustainable, and that the administration is committed to addressing it.

Earlier on Wednesday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) met with Virginia Republicans to speak about efforts in Washington to repeal ObamaCare, including the Medicaid expansion. Santorum has been working with conservative groups on a long-shot plan to keep repeal alive this year.

-Updated 2:50 p.m.