by Danica Roem
Up to 400,000 Virginians will remain uninsured because the entire House of Delegates Republican caucus voted to kill Medicaid expansion Wednesday afternoon.
The 66-34 vote defeated an amendment by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to HB 1500, the budget bill, making the governor’s final attempt to convince the legislature to reclaim billions of tax dollars Virginians sent to Washington, D.C. every year that are then doled out to other states.
“There is value in having good, continuing care,” said Del. Charniele Herring (D-46) on the House floor. Herring called on the Republican majority to bring back our money from Washington and “do what’s right for Virginia,” advice that went unheeded by the majority party.
Among the Prince William County delegation, six Republicans represent 12,800 of their constituents who will remain uninsured between Prince William County, Fauquier County, Stafford County, Fairfax County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park.
One is retiring. The other five all face challengers.
In the 13th District alone, more than 15 percent of the Manassas Park population is uninsured and the city’s representative in Richmond, Del. Bob Marshall (R-13), voted against providing that security to them today.
I’m running for the 13th District to hold Del. Marshall accountable.
Del. Marshall today voted against insuring 3,700 of his constituents, including 1,300 in Manassas Park and 2,400 in the Prince William County precincts of the 13th District.
As a whole, 12,200 Prince William County residents and 2,000 Manassas residents will be left uninsured after today’s vote.
It is incumbent upon those of us running campaigns and those of us who believe that health care must be a basic, fundamental right to make sure people understand that if we want to prevent people from having to choose between their health care and a pile of debt from medical bills, we *have to* elect 17 more Democrats this year.
We have to. People’s lives and their quality of life depend on it.
Here is how many constituents the delegates representing the 17 Virginia House of Delegates districts carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016 left uninsured today, according to The Commonwealth Institute:
Del. Mark Dudenhefer (R-2): 2,400
Del. Randy Minchew (R-10): 2,400
Del. Joseph Yost (R-12): 3,700
Del. Bob Marshall (R-13): 3,700
Del. Ron Villanueva (R-21): 1,400
Del. Scott Lingamfelter (R-31): 1,100
Del. Tag Greason (R-32): 1,200
Del. Tim Hugo (R-40): 1,200
Del. Dave Albo (R-42): 700
Del. Jackson Miller (R-50): 3,100
Del. Rich Anderson (R-51): 1,300
Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-67): 1,400
Del. Manoli Loupassi (R-68): 1,600
Del. Jimmie Massie (R-72): 2,200
Del. John O’Bannon (R-73): 4,000
Del. David Yancey (R-94): 2,000
Del. Rob Bloxom (R-100): 6,100
*Bold: retiring (open seat)
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