To the Editor:
For those who have vocally criticized Republican misgivings about Governor McAuliffe’s desires to expand Medicaid in Virginia -- including the Connection Newspapers -- one need look no further than the past couple weeks of state news to understand the fiscal irresponsibility that would have befallen Virginia had the expansion taken place. Governor McAuliffe’s announced state budget deficits of roughly $880 million and his orders to agency chiefs to come up with suggestions on how to cut five percent from their budgets this year and 7 percent next year come before any Medicaid expansion put additional strains on the State budget. This is particularly true when the federally-promised Medicaid -- start-up -- funds dried up (as they were probably intended to do) and those expansion costs rapidly became a new line item in the Virginia state budget, along with the additional possibility that actual costs almost assuredly would have exceeded estimates.
Governor McAuliffe’s proposal to expand Medicaid with its associated costs while likely knowing full well that the state faced significant budget shortfalls speaks for itself as another case of ideas exceeding the balance in the check book. Thank goodness for Republican fiscal prudence and good judgment.
Chris J. Krisinger
Col./USAF (Ret.)
Burke