The Senate finally found a way to agree on how to expand Medicaid services for up to 20,000 mentally ill, addicted, disabled and chronically ill Virginians, but without a way to pay for them.
The chamber voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 915, proposed by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, which would expand Medicaid eligibility for people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — $16,753 a year for a single person — if they suffer from serious mental health or substance disorders or chronic diseases.
It also requires the funding of 2,300 waiver slots for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, orders creation of a new set of services for people with brain injuries, and would fund private transportation of mentally ill people under temporary detention orders to relieve the burden on law enforcement.
