Kaine pushes for Medicaid expansion

Virginia should study the effects of Medicaid expansion while taking the federal dollars to do it, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said during an interview Friday.

The former governor reiterated his position on a key provision of health care reform during a discussion that also covered the federal debate over raising the minimum wage.

Kaine has volunteered for the Remote Area Medical Clinic in Wise County that annually draws thousands for free health and dental assistance that its mostly poor and rural clients couldn’t otherwise afford.

He noted in a newspaper guest column that two-thirds of the people the clinic serves would be eligible for Medicaid if the state expands the health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

And Virginia needn’t wait for studies to find efficiencies and savings before considering expansion, as opponents have contended, Kaine said inside Wright’s Dairy Rite.

“Why not do it now, and study it as you’re doing it?” Kaine said “You can improve it as you go.”

Bringing more enrollees into the program was intended under the Affordable Care Act to cover people who currently make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but who wouldn’t be eligible for federal subsidies to pay for private health insurance.

States split the cost of Medicaid with the federal government, and Republican lawmakers who oppose expansion — particularly in the House of Delegates — say that Medicaid item is the fastest-growing item in the state budget. But Kaine believes Virginia shouldn’t pass on the federal government’s offer to pay 100 percent of expansion costs and cover 400,000 uninsured citizens.

Economics have been among the chief issues he’s handled during his first term in the Senate. Earlier in the day, Kaine attended a roundtable meeting in Clifton Forge that focused on economic development for the Alleghany-Highlands region. Next week, the Senate is scheduled to take up a proposal to increase the minimum wage, which Kaine supports.

Opponents say increasing the minimum wage would cost jobs. Kaine said research doesn’t support that notion, and he thinks the minimum wage should be increased and indexed to adjust for inflation. The change would be good for workers and the economy because it would add to purchasing power, he said.

“We have an economy that is heavily driven by consumer demand,” Kaine said. “The recession has been a recession driven by reduction in consumer demand. A (higher) minimum wage should help with that.”

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