Rural Va. state legislator voices support for Medicaid expansion; other Republicans may follow - Entrepreneur Generations

Kilgore

Prominent Republican state legislator Terry Kilgore, who is chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, said last week that he supports Medicaid expansion because it will help the constituents in his struggling coal-country district. His change of mind could make it easier for other rural conservatives to follow suit,  Laura Vozzella reports for The Washington Post.

Kilgore's announcement comes only months after Democrats--many running on a healthcare platform--almost obliterated Republicans' majority in the state legislature. That may have helped convince Republicans to swing around on the issue, but with a conservative twist: work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients. Republicans in at least 10 states have supported Medicaid expansion with work requirements, and Kentucky has already received the greenlight from the White House.

Kilgore believes that Republicans' failure to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act means it's not going away any time soon. "They’ve kept Medicaid expansion in the [federal] budget," he told Vozzella. "So it’s time for Virginia to act. But we’ve got to act in the Virginia way."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2sIUmKt Rural Va. state legislator voices support for Medicaid expansion; other Republicans may follow - Entrepreneur Generations

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