The Impact of King v. Burwell

With the decision in King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court has further confirmed the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and allowed to stand the subsidies that have been provided to thousands of Virginians who have signed up for insurance on the federal ACA marketplace. I am very happy for the 286,000 Virginians who would otherwise have lost reasonably-priced insurance and for the many Americans who continue to benefit from provisions of the ACA. In Virginia, though, there is much work that needs to be done. Almost 400,000 of our friends and neighbors would benefit by state expansion of Medicaid. If we expanded, we would also bring Virginians’ tax dollars back to the Commonwealth, where they could be used to create jobs, insure people, and help our hospitals rather than have them sent to places like Connecticut and New York to fund their own expansions. In the next session, we will try again to expand Medicaid. I hope my Republican colleagues will finally conclude it is a good deal for the Commonwealth and their constituents.