Case of a compassionate conservative: Gov. McDonnell will not expand Medicaid in VA

Compassionate conservative? Not on your life! No, really, not on your life.

In a letter written to the chairmen of the Virginia General Assembly’s budget committees on Wednesday, Gov. Bob McDonnell[1] stated he would hold Medicaid in Virginia hostage. That is, McDonnell stated that he would not seek to expand Medicaid in Virginia “without a guarantee that federal spending on the program would not increase “the immoral national debt.””[2] How declining to expand Medicaid is not an immoral act seems to have missed McDonnell’s attention and approbation.

McDonnell’s letter came after Gov. Rick Scott of Florida became the seventh Republican governor to agree to an expansion of Medicaid and on the eve of the deadline for legislators in the General Assembly to agree on the terms it will set on expanding Medicaid to up to an additional 400,000 Virginians.

In his letter, McDonnell stated, “Please understand that I cannot and will not support consideration of an expansion of Medicaid in Virginia until major reforms are authorized and completed, and until we receive guarantees that the federal government’s promises to the states can be kept without increasing the immoral national debt.”[3] This statement coming from the same governor who thinks flying expensive drones above Virginia’s skies is a good idea.

If compassion or ‘immorality’ were McDonnell’s primary concerns, then Medicaid expansion would easily be endorsed by Virginia’s governor. Like so many other issues, Gov. McDonnell is using Medicaid as a hostage to fulfill his party’s ideological goals. And as is so often the case, real people will suffer as a consequence.

There are few individuals who would reasonably argue that our country’s debt is not an issue that should be immediately addressed. But to withhold medical care for up to 400,000 Virginians to reduce a debt that is more of a long-term concern than an immediate threat is itself an immoral act to the highest degree.

Virginian CAN afford to expand Medicaid for eligible Virginians. Gov. McDonnell is choosing not to. Would McDonnell also ask for conditions before pulling a drowning victim out of the water? To my mind, the two scenarios are not much different.

McDonnell is choosing to withhold his endorsement for a program that Virginia can expand. As a consequence, thousands of Virginians may figuratively drown in medical debt, lack of medical care, or a host of additional unnecessary circumstances.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_McDonnell

[2] http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/mcdonnell-all-but-rules-out-medicaid-expansion/article_49807dee-8d54-5b98-ae8d-48d6d2466e3a.html

[3] http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/mcdonnell-all-but-rules-out-medicaid-expansion/article_49807dee-8d54-5b98-ae8d-48d6d2466e3a.html