RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has repeatedly promised to expand Medicaid eligibility for about 400,000 low-income adults using mostly federal funds during his eight-month old administration. But on Monday he acknowledged that his executive power only reaches so far.
“As governor I have to do what the law allows me to do,” said McAuliffe. “Trust me, if I could do this on my own I would do it.”
The governor spoke at a Capitol news conference where he unveiled an alternative 10-point plan aimed at encouraging adults and children already eligible for publicly subsidized health care coverage to enroll in various programs. The only low-income adults eligible for new health coverage under McAuliffe’s plans would be about 20,000 currently uninsured residents who have a severe mental illness.
Republicans had feared McAuliffe might try to expand Medicaid through executive action and praised him Monday for not doing so.
“By not attempting to enact major policy changes unilaterally by executive fiat, and without General Assembly approval, Governor McAuliffe has wisely averted an unwarranted constitutional crisis,” said Senate Republican Leader Thomas K. Norment, Jr.
McAuliffe spoke at length about the benefits an expanded Medicaid program would bring to Virginia, both in terms of improving the health of the state’s citizens and improving its economy. About half the states have decided to expand Medicaid, which is a key proponent of the Affordable Care Act. The Obama administration has offered to pay most of the costs of expanding Medicaid in states that choose to do so, but Virginia Republicans have argued that the state would be saddled with the cost if the federal government can’t keep its promise.
The governor and Republican lawmakers have sparred throughout his administration over Medicaid expansion, engaging in a protracted debate over whether it should be included in the state budget. After Republicans prevailed on the budget issue in June, a combative McAuliffe denounced Republican leaders and said he had tasked Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. William A. Hazel Jr. to come up with a plan to expand health care options for low-income Virginians by September 1.
On Monday, McAuliffe struck a more conciliatory tone and urged GOP lawmakers to work with him on modified Medicaid expansion proposals. The governor said the General Assembly had “made it perfectly clear that they unequivocally” have the power to expand Medicaid and urged them to use that power responsibly.
Republicans have called a special session to begin later this month to debate the merits of Medicaid expansion, but there’s been no sign of a shift in the GOP’s position.
McAuliffe’s plan also provides dental coverage for about 45,000 pregnant women who already receive publicly funded health care and allows state workers to enroll their children FAMIS, an insurance program for low-income children whose families don’t qualify for Medicaid.
The state and the federal government would each pay about $80 million a year to cover the costs of new coverage for the 20,000 uninsured residents with a severe mental illness. The plan still has to be approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the General Assembly would have to approve the additional spending for the next fiscal year.
