Minutes 03/25/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 25, 2014 Ayes: Cherry, Edmonds, Meeks, Moody, Psimas, Randall, Wright Nays: None 14 - 122 -Adoption of a resolution by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia supporting increased health care access for the uninsured and urging the General Assembly to return Virginia's taxpayers' dollars to the Commonwealth. Vision Principles: Neighborhoods and a Sense of Community, Quality of Life and Lifelong Learning Community. Background: • The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and then signed into law by the President on March 23, 2010. • The Affordable Care Act was created to expand access to coverage, control health care costs, and improve health care quality and care coordination. Discussion: • Virginia has over one million under the age of 64 who are uninsured, many of whom are in families with at least one full - or part-time worker who are not provided health insurance coverage through their employer, cannot afford coverage on their own, or do not make enough to qualify for insurance offered through the health care exchange. • The Commonwealth has approximately 250,000 uninsured Virginians of which 4,600 are citizens within the City of Portsmouth who are caught by the Affordable Care Act gap between Medicaid and federal subsidies for health insurance exchanges are able to obtain health insurance and to ensure those currently receiving Medicaid benefits will continue to receive those benefits. • It is estimated that by 2022, Virginians will send $29.7 billion to Washington, D.C. through mandatory federal Affordable Care Act-related taxes, fees and provider payment cuts to pay for uninsured in other states. • The Commonwealth wants to recoup these funds to help citizens statewide - including those affect in Portsmouth - by developing a financially sound plan that will ensure Virginia's health care delivery system will have the resources needed to provide quality services to its community. Financial Impact: • There is no local financial impact in adopting the resolution. Recommended Action: • Adoption of the resolution. Vision Principles: Neighborhoods and a Sense of Community, Quality of Life and Lifelong Learning Community. Next Steps Following Council Action: • The City Manager will forward a copy of the resolution to Senator L. Louise Lucas and the other Portsmouth General Assembly delegation. 1. Mark Geduldig-Yatrofsky, P. O. Box 50141, spoke in support of this item. 2. Donna Sayegh, 3104 Garland Drive, spoke in opposition to this item. Motion by Ms. Psimas, and seconded by Mr. Edmonds, to adopt the following resolution, and was adopted by the following vote: "RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA SUPPORTING INCREASED HEALTH CARE ACCESS FOR THE UNINSURED AND URGING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RETURN VIRGINIA TAXPAYERS' DOLLARS TO THE COMMONWEALTH. WHEREAS, a healthy workforce and community are critical to the economic vitality of the Portsmouth community; and