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Parents, groups tell Kaine they're concerned about potential Va. Medicaid cuts Parents, stakeholders tell Kaine they're concerned about potential Virginia Medicaid cuts hammer

Richmond Times-Dispatch - 6/24/2017

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., met with stakeholders in Richmond on Friday for a roundtable discussion on the potential effect of Medicaid cuts in Senate Republicans' health care proposal.

Kaine met with about 25 interested parties, including representatives of ARC of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, AARP Virginia, Voices for Virginia's Children, the Virginia Association of Nurses, Planned Parenthood and the NAACP.

"The heart of this bill is dramatic cuts to Medicaid," Kaine said at the SunTrust Center on East Main Street.

Kaine said he wants GOP senators to slow the bill's progress and hold hearings.

Kaine spent much of the hour listening to stories from Virginians who said that without Medicaid assistance they would not have the means to care for children who are seriously ill, or who deal with mental health problems or developmental disabilities.

"You cannot balance the health care act on the back of the most vulnerable citizens," said Kim Goodloe, president of ARC of Virginia. People with developmental disabilities who want to live with family members, or live independently, are at risk of losing services that are vital to keeping them out of nursing homes or state institutions, she said.

"Our biggest fear is home-based community services are going to be the last thing to be funded," she said. "Hospitals are going to be paid, nursing homes are going to be paid, and these direct-service providers are at the bottom of the barrel."

Melissa Earley, a registered nurse, said that "if you take away coverage for mental health, that's going to have a direct impact on medical health."

Kaine told of a family in Albemarle County, whose son, a rising senior, has cerebral palsy. He uses a wheelchair, is nonverbal and uses an iPad to communicate. His parents are pleased that he is on track to graduate from high school but noted that they could not have afforded his wheelchair without Medicaid.

"There's a powerful argument that Medicaid services are independence promoters," Kaine said.

Marsha Williamson of King and Queen County, a former Richmond resident, says her son, Jesse, 28, has schizophrenia and has progressed with the help of medications.

"Because of services in place now, he can get medication, he can get treatment," she said. If he can't get medications and treatment, "it's just my worst fear that he will end up" being "someone on the street," she said.

John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said in a statement Thursday that the Senate bill "isn't perfect," but that it is "an important step on the road to 'Obamacare' repeal."

"Anyone remotely familiar with health insurance knows just how badly broken 'Obamacare' is," he said. "In Virginia, premiums have gone up 77 percent since 2013."

acain@timesdispatch.com

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