6. But does Virginia have to expand its Medicaid program as part of the Affordable Care Act?
No. The original version of the Affordable Care Act required all states to expand the eligibility guidelines for their Medicaid programs to cover nearly everyone under age 65 who makes 133 percent or less of the federal poverty level. But in June 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that that portion of the act must be optional for states. According to a May 5 story in The Washington Post, 25 states have either decided against the Medicaid expansion or are leaning in that direction.
7. What’s the status of the Medicaid debate in the state capitol?
According to the Kaiser Foundation, state legislators in Richmond formed a commission of both Republicans and Democrats to examine the Medicaid expansion option and discuss changes that could be made to the program.
Gov. Bob McDonnell listed in a March 5 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius the changes that he and some Virginia legislators want to see implemented before they consider a Medicaid expansion.
“Virginia will not consider any expansion of Medicaid before there are dramatic, verifiable cost saving reforms of the program at the state and federal level,” McDonnell wrote. To read about McDonnell’s proposed changes in detail, click here.
8. What is the deadline for the states’ decisions on Medicaid?
There is no deadline by which the states must make their decision on expanding their Medicaid programs, according to information from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Also, if government officials in a state choose to expand Medicaid, they can later change their minds and lower their state’s eligibility standards again. That would mean some individuals would be dropped from the program.