Members of the Virginia Legislative Behavioral Health Subcommittee are expressing concern over whether they are “doing enough” to mitigate the Commonwealth’s ongoing workforce shortage at its behavioral health facilities. Virginia state hospitals are resuming Temporary Detention Order (TDO) admissions after they were halted last month due to staffing issues, but stakeholders spent last week’s meeting … Read more
Senator J. Chapman Petersen’s (D-Fairfax) bill to establish standards for vertically integrated health carriers (VICs) received testimony at the Health Insurance Reform Commission meeting last week, with both sides claiming the other would increase health costs for Virginians. Senate Bill 867 defines a VIC as a health insurer or other entity that also … Read more
Shelly Smith, DNP, APRN-BC, is the director of advanced practice programs at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Nursing. Smith oversees VCU’s nurse practitioner, nursing administration, and doctoral clinical tracts. Smith also works with VCU’s Wilder School for Government and Public Affairs to provide a health care perspective to translate research into public policy … Read more
On Tuesday, the Virginia Health Insurance Reform Commission discussed a number of mandated provider benefit bills referred from the 2020 session. The bi-cameral commission is charged with reviewing legislation, ensuring proper implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and recommending changes as necessary. Commission Chair Sen. George Barker previously asked the Bureau of … Read more
Leaders from various health care silos discussed potential strategies to increase payment parity at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Virtual Colloquium Addressing Health Equity last week. A 2019 survey from the Virginia Center for Health Innovation found over 55% of surveyed adults in Virginia experienced health care affordability hardships in the last one to two years prior … Read more
Over 30 leaders in the Commonwealth’s health care sphere, including elected officials, health insurance plans and providers, and health policy academia, met Thursday for a cross-disciplinary “strategy dialogue” on improving Virginia health equity. Panelists discussed topics such as payment parity, affordable housing, broadband access, and education at the 2021 Virtual Colloquium Addressing Health Equity in … Read more
Virginia is joining a number of states considering a public option, among other strategies, to make health insurance more affordable for Virginians. General Assembly members of the Health Insurance Affordability in the Individual Market Subcommittee, under the Joint Commission on Health Care, met Wednesday to consult insurance experts on potential solutions. Stephen Weiss, … Read more
The passing of the budget bill during Virginia’s special legislative session this month will bring over $3.1 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Commonwealth over the next year. State leaders shared their thoughts with State of Reform on the success of the special session and next steps. Delegate … Read more
HB 7001, the budget bill created to allocate federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Commonwealth, passed in both the House and the Senate on Monday. The bill brings more than $3.1 billion from the federal government to fund public health initiatives, workforce and small business support, public schools, and statewide broadband. Major … Read more
Two Virginia state hospitals will resume civil Temporary Detention Orders (TDO) on a limited admissions basis starting Thursday, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) commissioner Alison Land announced this week. Piedmont Geriatric Hospital in Burkeville and Western State Hospital in Staunton will join Catawba Hospital — which reopened July 29. However, all three … Read more