Virginia governor seeks Medicaid expansion after Obamacare repeal fails

Democrat Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says there are “’no more excuses” not to expand Medicaid in the state after House GOP leaders failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe is making another bid to expand Virginia’s Medicaid program, saying that state Republican lawmakers have “no more excuses” in the aftermath of the failed plan by President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

McAuliffe said Monday that he will propose to restore a provision that General Assembly Republicans stripped from the state budget that would give him authority to accept federal money to expand health insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians.

He also called on a new legislative health care subcommittee to begin meeting immediately to plan for expanding Medicaid coverage in the state, which the General Assembly has denied him for four years.

The budget would create the new panel to monitor federal changes in health care law that could affect Virginia and respond to them when the legislature is not in session.

Read the full story at the Ricmond Times-Dispatch: McAuliffe says ‘no more excuses’ not to expand Medicaid after Trump plan failure | Virginia Politics | richmond.com