Repeal health insurance waiting lists

The House of Delegates is considering a budget amendment that would repeal the 40 quarter rule, a regulation requiring that immigrants work in Virginia for 10 years in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage. Email your Delegate and urge them to vote in favor of repealing the 40 quarter rule!

I'm writing to ask you to vote in favor of a budget amendment that would eliminate the 40-quarter rule that prevents immigrants from accessing public health insurance through Medicaid.

The 40-quarter rule says that documented immigrants must have 40 quarters (10 years) of work history before they can qualify for Medicaid. That’s five years over the federal requirement. This rule has no purpose other than to punish immigrants in our community.

The budget amendment estimates that eliminating the 40 quarters rule would bring in $16.6 million in federal funding to provide Medicaid services and cost the state $6.6 million dollars. There are currently 290,000 lawful permanent residents in Virginia.

Affordable, quality health care should be available to everyone, regardless of race, income level, work history, or citizenship status. We expanded Medicaid to increase access to affordable health care but there’s more to do to advance access. We must come together to repeal these unnecessary barriers to access Medicaid and ensure that everyone who qualifies for  Medicaid can get the coverage they need, regardless of how long they’ve been in the workforce.

For these reasons, I urge you to vote in favor of repealing the 40-quarter rule.

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