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Finally! Virginia passes Medicaid expansion and a budget that invests in kids

  • Child Welfare
  • Children’s Mental Health
  • Early Care and Education
  • Health Equity
  • State Advocacy

By Emily Griffey

After repeated attempts over the last several years, Virginia finally adopted Medicaid expansion to provide health insurance to up to 400,000 Virginians who currently fall in the coverage gap.  We are so pleased that low-income families will have greater economic stability through access to health insurance and affordable health care.

This historic event is due to the leadership of a bipartisan group of senators and delegates voting together to help Virginia families. We are especially grateful for Sen. Emmett Hanger’s steadfast leadership within the Senate and to Del. Chris Jones for leading the House of Delegates to produce a budget that included Medicaid expansion and investments in kids. We also acknowledge all of the senators and delegates who voted for the final passage of the budget yesterday, including 23 from the Senate and 67 from the House.

Senate Yeas: House Yeas: Barker Adams, D.M. Helsel Peace Chafin Aird Heretick Pillion Dance Austin Herring Plum Deeds Ayala Hodges Price Ebbin Bagby Hope Rasoul Edwards Bell, John J. Hurst Reid Favola Bloxom Ingram Rodman Hanger Bourne James Roem Howell Boysko Jones, J.C. Sickles Lewis Bulova Jones, S.C. Simon Locke Carr Keam Stolle Lucas Carroll Foy Kilgore Sullivan Marsden Carter Knight Thomas Mason Convirs-Fowler Kory Toscano McClellan Cox Krizek Tran McPike Davis Levine Turpin Petersen Delaney Lindsey Tyler Saslaw Edmunds Lopez VanValkenburg Spruill Filler-Corn Marshall Ward Surovell Garrett McQuinn Watts Vogel Gooditis Morefield Yancey Wagner Guzman Mullin Wexton Hayes Murphy

Click through to send an email thank you to your delegate or senator if they voted for the budget expanding Medicaid.

In addition to thanking our legislators, we are grateful to the partners and advocates who made this victory possible, including our partners in Healthcare for All Virginians (HAV) Coalition. Not only does this budget include Medicaid expansion, it also provides significant investments in the many other priorities from Voices’ legislative agenda, including investments in the behavioral health system, the Virginia Preschool Initiative and early childhood system, and childhood trauma.


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