General Assembly Update: Optima Health and Tax Rebates

October 2, 2019 by David Toscano

WATCH YOUR MAILBOX!

Local residents should watch their mailboxes carefully in the next several weeks because about 2.7 million eligible taxpayers will receive a one-time refund from the Commonwealth as the result of action the General Assembly took last spring.

STATE TAX REBATES

Those eligible should receive $110 if they filed state taxes individually, or $220 if they filed jointly. The check should arrive by October 15. So, if you see a letter from the Department of Taxation – OPEN IT! If you have questions, visit the Virginia Department of Taxation’s website at https://www.tax.virginia.gov/news/2019-virginia-tax-relief-refund or call 804.367.8031.

PREMIUM REBATES FROM OPTIMA

Another rebate for residents in our area may soon be coming from Optima Health as the result of actions by a local advocacy group, Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance (CRHI) (https://www.facebook.com/groups/142730106368938/) and the state Bureau of Insurance (BOI), with a little nudge from yours truly. Under requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurance providers are required to spend 80¢ out of every dollar in premiums collected on healthcare claims and quality improvements (in policy parlance, this is called Medical Loss Ratio – MLR). [Read more…]

Doing the People’s Business During a Challenging Time

February 5, 2019 by David Toscano

We are now in the busiest week of the legislative year. On Sunday, the House and Senate budgets were unveiled. Today, February 5, is “crossover,” the day on which all bills must be passed in one legislative body to cross over to the other side of the Capitol for consideration. We debate the budget this Thursday. All of this work is, of course, going forward in the shadow of the turmoil surrounding the Governor. I posted my thoughts (you can read it here) about this still-unfolding situation as of Saturday morning on social media, and will probably have more to say later. For now, however, we legislators are focused on doing the job our constituents elected us to do.

STATUS OF MY BILLS

Eight of my bills have passed the House and will now be considered by the Senate. Four initiatives address rising health insurance premiums and health care costs, and are directly related to the spike in insurance premiums that occurred in Charlottesville in late 2017 during the ACA Marketplace open season to purchase 2018 health care insurance. [Read more…]

You Win Some and Lose Some: But You Never Stop Trying

January 25, 2019 by David Toscano

When I first arrived in the House of Delegates in 2006, a friend of mine counseled me not to get too personally attached to any proposed legislation. “Bills are like goldfish,” he said. “You love and care for them when they are alive, but when they die, you go out and get another fish.”

There is some common sense in this attitude, especially when you can bring bills back in the next session to try again, but I have to admit it’s a severe disappointment when very important efforts are defeated, especially when they could make a big difference. In the last week, I have watched this happen to measures like the ERA ratification resolution, which was defeated in the House Privileges & Elections Committee after a herculean lobbying effort. It is not totally dead, and we are working on another strategy to push for a vote on the House floor, but we have some major hurdles to overcome.

There are a few of my bills which have not yet been placed on a subcommittee agenda (as of Friday afternoon, at least), including HB 2377 to grant localities the authority to decide what to do with Confederate statues in public spaces and HB 1959 to allow any voter to vote absentee without having to provide a reason or fit into a special category. For these, the fight to win them is still ahead, and I appreciate all the work being done to help that happen. [Read more…]

Week One of the 400th Session Is Underway

January 14, 2019 by David Toscano

Four hundred years is a very long time. For that entire period, Virginia has been governed by a representative legislative body. From the Jamestown settlement in 1619 to Williamsburg to Richmond, the House of Delegates (formerly House of Burgesses) has met each year to pass laws – some good and some bad – reflecting the preferences of those who elected us to serve.

We convened on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, for this 400th anniversary session, and, as with all 399 sessions before, the issues we will discuss are important to the people of Virginia. [Read more…]

Why I Serve In The General Assembly

January 7, 2019 by David Toscano

The 2019 Session Is Upon Us

Since my election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005, my goal has always been to serve this region with honesty and integrity while pushing the progressive measures which reflect this community’s values. For all of this time, Democrats have been in the minority in the House, with the result that many of the initiatives our region supports have not yet been adopted. Nonetheless, we have achieved some major victories, not the least of which occurred in the last session when we were able, after 5 years of trying, to pass Medicaid expansion, and provide access to health insurance to over 300,000 Virginians. It was the most consequential vote in decades.

Working with others in the General Assembly, we have been able to raise teacher salaries, make more investments in environmental protection and mental health, and provide monies for critical investments in transportation, including roads and mass transit. We have worked to restore and increase funding for education that was cut during the Great Recession. And we have fought efforts to restrict the reproductive rights of women and deny the rights of our LGBTQ and immigrant communities. As Democratic Leader for the past seven years, I was proud to help lead these fights. Under the McAuliffe Administration, Virginia’s economy expanded and many new jobs were created. Under the Northam Administration, growth rates have increased and we have been able to better meet the needs of all citizens in the Commonwealth. I remain committed to the following principles and will work to see policies embodied by them passed in upcoming sessions.

Good Jobs that Honor Work, Provide Opportunity, and Build Prosperity: Virginians Need a Raise

Hardworking Virginians should be able to earn a livable wage and have a decent standard of living, including the ability to access paid time for family leave, vacations, and sickness. Opportunity and prosperity are ensured when employees are protected at work, and have access to health care and other benefits. Virginia families want their children and grandchildren to succeed and not be forced to move from their communities to seek a better life. To that end, we should pass laws to ensure:

A concrete plan to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, lowest in the nation, to $15 per hour.
Strong paid family leave policies.
Contracting procedures that reward companies which provide health care and benefits to their employees while ensuring workers’ rights to a safe and secure workplace.
Equal pay for equal work.
Nondiscrimination in hiring and employment.
Incentives to ensure that all Virginians have access to affordable and quality health care.
Prohibitions against wage theft in the workplace.
Better workforce training linked to good jobs in the community.
Greater investments in Virginia’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, directing these monies for local use (similar to the $1 million grant we obtained for Habitat’s Southwood initiative).

Access to Affordable and Quality Health Care

Virginians continue to experience problems with accessing health care at affordable rates. Large numbers of Virginians remain uninsured, and in many parts of the Commonwealth insurance premiums take too large a percentage of a family’s income. Medicaid expansion will permit a larger number of Virginians access to quality insurance, but there are other areas where reforms are necessary. I support:

Effective implementation of Medicaid expansion.
Expanding health care insurance options to increase access and hold down costs.
Transparency in providing information about the costs of services and prescriptions so that consumers can make educated choices.
Investment in public health centers and free clinics to assist those who are unable to pay for medical procedures and prescriptions.
Emphasis on preventive public health rather than expensive emergency medicine.
Increasing investments to ensure that food insecurity is eliminated among Virginians.
Protecting women’s reproductive rights.
Lowering drug prices under Medicaid by leveraging the purchasing power of state agencies.
Protecting consumers from surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers.
Ensuring that persons with pre-existing conditions do not lose insurance.
Enhancing the ability of our Bureau of Insurance (BOI) to rein in health insurance premium increases.

[Read more…]