Today the Governor essentially informed the General Assembly that he would take no action in light of the Supreme Court’s health care ruling. Instead, Virginia will continue to wait out this issue ….
In the immediate aftermath of ACA passage in 2010, the legislature passed the bill to set up a state exchange, as we are required to do under Federa law.
Having our own state exchange makes sense — it allows our citizens and business owners to draft the law and set the parameters. As a small business owner, I’d like to know how this exchange will work and make sure that it does not put Virginia businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
But we’re not doing that. Nor are we discussing the fiscal impact of Medicaid expansion (and whether Virginia should accept these extra Federal funds).
Instead, we are doing nothing.
The Governor’s logic is that there are too many “unanswered” questions about the Federal program. Well, they are unanswered questions about any new law. Let’s answer them.
Time is not on the Governor’s side. He may think that inaction avoids an embarassing conflict with Republican nominee Romney (who has vowed to “repeal” the law), but the inaction itself becomes a message.
We heard for 2 years that we didn’t need to set up an exchange because the ACA would be found unconstitutional. Now we hear that the ACA will be repealed once Romney’s elected. What will be the excuse after November 4?