Virginia will back off on Medicaid work requirements, Gov. Ralph Northam says

Dec. 4--Virginia wants to hit the pause button on pursuit of the work requirement lawmakers agreed to impose as a condition for expanding Medicaid coverage.

Doing so won't affect the coverage more than 350,000 Virginians have obtained through expansion.

The move sparked protests Wednesday from General Assembly Republicans, since the work requirement was key to convincing some two dozen GOP delegates to change their minds and support Medicaid expansion last year.

"The agreement Governor (Ralph) Northam reached with Republicans was made in good faith," said the House GOP caucus leader, Todd Gilbert, R-Shendandoah County.

"He gave his personal assurance that the long-term policy of the Commonwealth would be Medicaid expansion with a work requirement. Broken promises like this are the reason so many people hate politics."

"Every promise made to those Republican members who agreed to support Medicaid expansion has been broken," said state Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, leader of the Senate's GOP caucus.

But there's likely little Republicans can do to stop Northam, since the governor's fellow Democrats took control of both houses of the legislature in November's elections.

Speaker of the House Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights -- who will lose that post when Democrats take over in January -- said he and Northam each made personal promises to one another on the work requirement and support for expansion.

"There wasn't an asterisk that said 'unless my party wins the next election,' " Cox said.

Expansion meant adults with household incomes of up to 138% of the federal poverty line could get health insurance through Medicaid. Before, Medicaid in Virginia was limited to children in low-income families, as well as disabled people and some parents with incomes of a fraction of the poverty line.

Federal courts have blocked work requirements in three other states -- Arkansas, Kentucky and New Hampshire -- while a pending challenge in Indiana led that state last month to drop its requirement. Medicaid beneficiaries in Michigan sued last month to overturn that state's requirement.

Work requirements must be approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services if Washington is to pick up some of the cost. Virginia faced a bill of $50 million or more to run the work requirement if the centers did not approve.

"Given the likelihood that the Governor and the legislature will substantially modify these new waiver provisions in the coming months, the Governor has directed us to pause finalization," Karen Kimsey, director of the state Medicaid agency, wrote to the federal centers.

Northam, in a separate statement, said that with "the changed make-up of the General Assembly and based on conversations with new leadership, it is unlikely Virginia will move forward with funding a program that could cause tens of thousands of Virginians to lose health care coverage."

The legal threats and rising costs other states face are a concern, he said, adding, "I look forward to working with the new legislature to increase access to the high-quality, affordable health care Virginians deserve."

Northam has in the past said he did not like work requirements. In a radio interview shortly after Republicans first floated the idea as a way to end a five-year impasse on expansion, he commented: "It adds bureaucracy, and I think it puts people in awkward positions," but added that he would consider programs to assist people who want to find work.

Asked if the pause could mean any Virginians lose coverage, Northam press secretary Alena Yarmosky said "The answer is no -- the governor has made it clear he doesn't want anyone's health care coverage to be put at risk."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, [email protected]

___

(c)2019 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)

Visit the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) at www.dailypress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.