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Virginia Health Insurance

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Virginia guide to Health InsuranceHow healthy is living
in Virginia?

Virginia rose two spots and is the nation's 21st healthiest state to live in according to the 2012 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

  • Air pollution dropped by nearly a quarter in the past five years.
  • At 14.7 percent, the state has a relatively low percentage of children in poverty. However, the rate increased more than 2 percentage points in the past year and nearly 7 percentage points in the past 10 years.

The bad news:

  • About 29 percent of adults are obese, and 10.4 percent are diagnosed with diabetes.
  • Geographic disparity ‚Äî the variation in death rates by county ‚Äî is high.

Virginia's best and worst category rankings:

  • Violent Crime – 6th
  • Poor Physical Health Days – 9th
  • Poor Mental Health Days – 10th
  • Immunization Coverage – 33rd
  • Diabetes – 38th
  • Geographic Disparity – 40th

more details

  • health insurance plans comparedSee the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Virginia.
  • Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Virginia health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Virginia here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Virginia, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.


Does Virginia have a health insurance high risk pool?

health-insurance risk poolsIMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Virginia started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Virginia's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.


Non-profit sources of health insurance information for Virginia

  • fhce logoThe Foundation for Health Coverage Education's mission is to provide simplified public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. Here is its guide on how to find health insurance in Virginia.
  • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking the progress of health insurance reform in each state. Its page for Virginia can be found here.
  • The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers. Search for Virginia health insurance plan report cards.

Virginia state government health insurance resources

Virginia State Seal.;

Virginia Health Reform Initiative —  A state initiative to implement health care reform.

FAMIS (Family Access to Medical Insuracne Security) —  Virginia’s low-cost health insurance for children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but do not have private health insurance.

Virginia Health Insurance Guide for Consumers —  State of Virgina’s PDF document with information about traditional health insurance and managed care health insurance plans.

Virginia Department of Health —  A site rich in information for Virginia citizens concerned about their health.

Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance —  Consumer information for state citizens dealing with agents or companies.



Virginia reform, single-payer health care information

Virginia Organizing Project —  A statewide grassroots social justice group working to mobilize citizens to lobby for more affordable health care.

Virginia Physicians for a National Health Program —  Members of VA PNHP advocate for single-payer national health insurance and speak about it to interested groups throughout Virginia.

State-specfic information on the Physicans National Health Program in Virginia.

The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for Virginia -- How the Affordable Health Care act will improve the lives of people living in Virginia.

Why health care reform is important to Virginia -- This 2009 document by the AARP provides a compelling case f for health reform in Virginia.

The Benefits of Health Reform In Virginia -- The Democratic Policy Committee of the United States Senate looks at benefits of health reform for the citizens of Virginia.



Other helpful Virginia health and medical care links

Virginia mental health resource guide, offered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Government.

The National Coalition on Health Care's information for Virginia -- America's oldest, most diverse, and broadest based group working to achieve comprehensive health system reform.



How did Virginia officials vote on health reform?


H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14
Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting
House vote
HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]



Health insurance exchange

Virginia state health insurance exchange Virginia's exchange

Find out what your state's health insurance exchange will look like.

Virginia health insurance premium rebates

state-by-state breakdown of health insurance premium rebates $43 million to 686,738 families

Insurance companies were forced to return an average of $185 per family in 2012.

State Health Insurance Guides

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID
IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO
MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA
RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WV WI WY

VA health insurance news

Virginia Gov. McDonnell opts for federal health insurance exchange

11/07/2012 7:11 PM
Richmond Times-Dispatch — Gov. McDonnell said the lack of direction from the federal government about state-based exchanges left the state no other option than to accept the federal exchange.

Virginia Takes A ‘Wait-And-See’ Approach To Health Care Act

07/18/2012 4:07 PM
WAMU – The fight over health care reform is still red hot in Virginia even after the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the law. One of the lynchpins in the Affordable Care Act are the health care exchanges available for those seeking insurance coverage.  January 2013 is the deadline for states to start setting up a health care exchange, where people currently without health insurance can browse through their options and find a plan regardless of their ability to pay.

Governors Spar Over Medicaid And Health Exchanges

07/13/2012 8:07 PM
SHOTS blog (NPR) – Health reform – and how to implement its provisions – will be a hot topic as the nation’s governors meet during the National Governors Association’s annual meeting this weekend. Sure to be discussed: implementation of state health insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion.

The meeting has already featured “dueling news conferences” from Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Read more Virginia health insurance news

VA health insurance companies

Health insurance companies in Virginia.
Get health insurance quotes for these companies.

Aetna
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Celtic Ins. Co.
Golden Rule
Kaiser Mid-Atlantic
UNICARE

Doctor directory for Virginia

Find licensed physicians near you. Each state is home to organizations that can help you find and research physicians, offering online information about a physician's license, schooling, practice information and more.

Virginia Licensee Search
Virginia Board of Medicine

Other Virginia Public Resources
Medical Society of Virginia

Health insurance for individuals VA

Resources for those individuals seeking health care insurance in Virginia. If you are looking for Virginia Medicare, visit our site for health insurance over 65.

How your member of Congress voted

how the Virginia congressional delegation voted on insurance reform healthreformvotes.org

Your members of the Virginia Congressional delegation voted on health care reform.