The House of Delegates voted 55 to 45 on Thursday to initiate a study of how to fund a potential universal healthcare program in Virginia. HB2271 says the study should examine both a publicly-funded model administered by the Commonwealth and a publicly-funded model administered by a private entity. The report would be due in October 2022.
“This bill is seeking to study all the costs associated with covering all other Virginians that are not covered by health insurance currently,” sponsor Delegate Ibraheem Samirah (D-Fairfax County) said on the House floor Wednesday.
Samirah said, “After successfully bringing thousands of new Virginians into the Medicaid program, after expanding Medicaid through our Commonwealth’s Medicaid system and now we’re thinking about how we could publicly finance the rest of health insurance plans for other people that don’t have insurance in the Commonwealth.”
The entire Republican caucus voted against the bill.
“There’s a great quote that says, ‘If you think health care is expensive now, wait ’til it’s free,'” attorney general candidate Delegate Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) told The Virginia Star. “California looked at the cost and it was double their state budget, and the Golden State has the highest state taxes in the nation.”
Miyares cited a Pacific Research Institute article.
“If California can’t afford this with the highest tax rate in the country, how in the world can anyone think Virginia can,” he said.
Miyares said there’s no need to do a study considering ways to fund universal healthcare.
“It’s already been looked at in other states. It’s simply not workable and not affordable,” he said.
He cited the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as an example of complete government-run healthcare.
“The VA consistently by every single objective measure does not provide good-quality health care for its veterans,” Miyares said. “I think that’s been absolutely a disaster, whenever you have government control. I don’t want the same people that run my post office and run my DMV running my healthcare, end of story.”
Miyares said healthcare reform policy should focus on giving consumers more options.
“We need to be giving them more tools so that they have more expansion of their insurance options,” the delegate said. “If they want to buy insurance across state lines, great. If they want to be able to pool together with other individuals that are considered high-risk, fantastic.”
“Give them the options,” he added. “I believe in consumer empowerment healthcare reform, not what we’re seeing by Democrats which is complete government dictation, control over your healthcare system.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
