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“Some will lose coverage because federal law changes who qualifies. Others may still be eligible but lose coverage because a form was missed, a notice was misunderstood, or the process became too difficult to navigate. That distinction matters. A paperwork failure should not become a healthcare crisis.” — Marvin Figueroa, health and human resources secretary
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during a roundtable with healthcare organizations in July. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday ordered Virginia agencies to step up efforts to prevent eligible residents from losing Medicaid and food assistance as sweeping federal changes are set to take effect next year.
The governor announced Executive Order 20 to boost the state’s implementation efforts of H.R.1, a reconciliation bill Congress passed last summer.
The move comes as the state faces approaching effective dates for changes to Medicaid access and food stamp eligibility and payment mechanisms.
The Robert O. Norris Bridge is located over the Rappahannock River. (Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Transportation)
By Shannon Heckt
Amazon Web Services is changing course on how a King George data center project will get its water after an application to renew a groundwater permit allowing withdrawals of up to 6.4 million gallons annually from the Potomac aquifer raised concerns.
The tech giant is set to construct a major data center campus in the county at the Birchwood Drive tech campus that could host more than a dozen data centers across the 869-acre property.
Students in a classroom. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
By Nathaniel Cline
Virginia students continued to make progress in reading and math last school year, posting gains that moved them closer to pre-pandemic performance levels, the Virginia Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Across the commonwealth, students’ proficiency in math and reading increased by 0.4% from the prior school year. Over the past five years, proficiency rates rose 5% in reading and 19% in math.
By Shauneen Miranda
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a procedural victory to President Donald Trump on an executive order to curb mail-in voting, but the administration is still fighting a separate ruling that limits a portion of the order and remains in effect — complicating the administration’s temporary win.
In light of the ruling in the nation’s highest court, the administration late Monday asked U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts to vacate her decision from earlier in August that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out aspects of Trump’s executive order, while the voting rights groups that brought that challenge argued Tuesday the block should remain in place.
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