Virginia – Medicaid Expansion Set to Begin in the New Year

January 2019 ~

At the start of this year, more than 180,000 uninsured people will gain Medicaid coverage under the program’s new qualification rules.

The General Assembly has voted to expand Medicaid coverage in 2019 to include Virginians earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level – approximately $16,700 annually for a single adult and $28,670 for a family of three.

Prior to the expansion, single adults were not eligible for coverage and parents were eligible only if they earned 30 percent of the federal poverty level, which would be about $6,900 for a family of three.

The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) expects to have 360,000 people enrolled by the end of 2019 and 375,000 enrolled by mid-2020. Officials have stated in November that the faster-than-expected pace of enrollments would increase the state’s share of the cost to expand Medicaid by about $80 million over two years, which will be funded through taxes levied on hospitals.

Virginia is joining more than 30 states that have expanded Medicaid.  The state’s Medicaid office says it will continue to work with hospitals, advocates for the poor, insurance companies and others to help enroll the newly eligible into Medicaid.

Source(s): Cover Virginia; News Observer; Kaiser Family Foundation; WHSV;