Hot off the presses, 31 Virginia health care providers have signed on to a joint statement in support of the bipartisan compromise now being debated in the Virginia General Assembly. From the press statement:
Today, there are too many Virginians who lack reliable access to necessary health services because they are uninsured. One way to help many of those people, and improve our economy, is to extend coverage to thousands of low-income Virginians who have no other reliable means to receive medical care. While safety net providers, hospital emergency departments, free clinics, community health centers, and local health fairs help meet some of those needs, this is a patchwork approach to a true public health challenge which warrants a more comprehensive solution.
The co-signers are as follows:
Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, the Virginia Nurses Association, the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners, the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, the Virginia Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Virginia Organization of Nurse Executives & Leaders, the Virginia Physical Therapy Association, the Virginia Counselors Association, the Virginia Association of Community-Based Providers, the Virginia Community Healthcare Association, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, theVirginia Rural Health Association, the Virginia Oral Health Coalition, the American Cancer Society – Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association and theAmerican Stroke Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation, the Virginia Hemophilia Foundation, the Hemophilia Association of the Capital Area, the Virginia Podiatric Medical Association, the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Virginia, the Richmond Academy of Medicine, the Virginia Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities, the Virginia Coalition of Private Provider Associations, the Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis, the Acupuncture Society of Virginia, and the Instructive Visiting Nurse Association.
All eyes remain on the Virginia Senate, where State Senator Emmett Hanger remains the key vote on the House compromise bill. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Delegates continue to fulminate over conservative reforms such as workfare requirements, leaving the bipartisan compromise on healthcare reform tenaciously close.
Given the very real concerns that Senate and House Democrats may have the votes to pass straightforward Medicaid reform should the negotiators tarry any further, the tension is indeed building in Richmond.
