Health Care Officials: Lack Of Medicaid Expansion Will Put Va. Jobs, Hospitals At Risk

Southwest Virginia health care jobs and rural hospitals will be at risk unless state lawmakers agree to a Medicaid expansion, Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance officials warned a room full of business leaders, insurers and government officials Wednesday.

If “done right,” the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) says the commonwealth can get another 30,000 jobs and net $2 billion out of Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, through 2018.

Without the Medicaid expansion, VHAA projected a net loss of $7.8 billion.

“The impact is very clear: Failing to reform and expand Medicaid will turn the net economic benefit from effective reform implementation into a significant negative impact on jobs and the economy,” said a VHHA document distributed at what was billed as a “community leadership forum” at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.