AFP-VA Responds to Delegate Kilgore’s Call for Medicaid Expansion

Feb 15, 2018 by AFP

RICHMOND, VA – Americans for Prosperity-Virginia responded today to Delegate Terry Kilgore’s call for Medicaid expansion with work requirements. AFP-VA, the state’s leading free-market grassroots organization, has been at the forefront of opposing Medicaid expansion that perpetuates a two-tiered society by trapping the least fortunate in a broken system.

“Adding work requirements won’t magically transform Medicaid expansion into a good idea. Even with work requirements, Virginia still couldn’t afford the added cost to expand Medicaid. Delegate Kilgore knows this, and he’s ignoring the fact that Kentucky and Arkansas are using work requirements to undo expansion – not justify it,” said AFP-VA State Director JC Hernandez. “Delegate Kilgore admits in his op-ed that Medicaid Expansion costs were 49 percent higher than they projected in Kentucky and then ignores the fact that work requirements were a futile effort to get those costs under control.

“Rejecting Medicaid-expansion will ensure our state’s Medicaid program is not crowded out by able-bodied, working-age adults and is there for those who truly need it. If Delegate Kilgore wants to revitalize the Southwest Virginia economy, he should pursue state-based, patient-centered reforms, like repealing the Certificate of Public Need of laws, which would bring down health care costs and lead to a healthier workforce for all of our communities.”

Background:

AFP activists have made tens of thousands of phone calls encouraging constituents to urge their legislators to vote against these dangerous bills.

Virginians sent hundreds of emails directly to legislators urging them to vote against Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid is simply not cost effective. Researchers from MIT, Harvard, and Dartmouth found that Medicaid recipients only receive about 20 to 40 cents of benefit for every dollar spent on Medicaid. Insurance companies, not low-income citizens, are the biggest winners of Medicaid expansion. Kaiser Health News recently reported that Medicaid insurer profits more than tripled in 34 states and the District of Columbia after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

For further information or an interview, reach Lorenz Isidro at LIsidro@afphq.org or (703) 887-7724.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) exists to recruit, educate, and mobilize citizens in support of the policies and goals of a free society at the local, state, and federal level, helping every American live their dream – especially the least fortunate. AFP has more than 3.2 million activists across the nation, a local infrastructure that includes 36 state chapters, and has received financial support from more than 100,000 Americans in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

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