It’s just two weeks until election day in Virginia, and we STILL don’t know much about No-Show Mike Makee, the Republican candidate for the House of Delegates 2nd District. We DO know that he’s a Trump supporter because he donated money to Trump’s campaign.
What we really want to know, however, is where he stands on offering healthcare to 400,000 Virginians who fall in the Medicaid “coverage gap”—those who are not poor enough to qualify for traditional Medicaid health coverage but who are too poor to pay for Obamacare. Most of the money that Makee has raised for his campaign has come from the state’s GOP leadership and their PACs. Because the state’s GOP has blocked Medicaid expansion for years AND has invested $100,000 in Makee, voters should expect that, if elected, he will follow the GOP’s lead.
Closing the Coverage Gap in Virginia Is A Must
Gov. McAuliffe campaigned in 2013 vowing to close the health coverage gap in Virginia in order to give 400,000 low-income Virginians access to healthcare.
Virginia is one of the richest states in the country. Why on Earth are low-income people in this state denied the right to see a doctor? That’s because every year, anti-poor politicians in the state’s General Assembly reject Medicaid expansion by refusing to pass budgets that fund it.
Every state has different requirements for Medicaid eligibility. Virginia has some of the most stringent requirements—only six other states make it harder for low-income working families to qualify for Medicaid. That’s a clear case for closing the coverage gap, plain and simple, and one you can bet Mike Makee won’t be making.
And don’t forget that the federal government has committed to paying the bulk of Medicaid expansion costs for states. That means that lawmakers in Virginia who oppose closing the coverage gap have already turned down $10 billion in FREE money for healthcare. Will Mike Makee be joining this infamous club?
Vote for the Health of Your Neighbors on November 7
2,200 people in the 2nd district would benefit from closing the coverage gap. Maybe Makee doesn’t know that since he won’t show up at candidate forums to hear from voters themselves about their concerns? We don’t need politicians who will continue to block this important program. Vote like your health depends on it this November 7.