Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced that Virginia is facing a $1.5 billion state budget shortfall due largely to lower-than-expected income and sales tax collections.  The need to address this shortfall could affect nursing centers’ Medicaid rates.

Subsequent to his announcement last week, the governor has called on state agency heads to prepare proposals to cut their budgets by 5 percent.  Agencies have been asked to find upwards of $844 million in savings for the current budget year, which runs through June 30, 2017.

VHCA-VCAL has conducted extensive outreach to legislators over the spring and summer emphasizing the importance of the Medicaid funding provided in the budget in recent years and the need to maintain that trend for 2018 and beyond.  VHCA-VCAL will continue to meet with key legislators and agency officials regarding Medicaid funding in the lead up to the 2017 General Assembly session.