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Vol. 35, No. 17 | Richmond Suburban News | August 29, 2018
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
Medicaid expansion leads to funds request By Jim Ridolphi for The Mechanicsville Local
SHEILA CROSSEN-POWELL
HANOVER – The Hanover County Board of Supervisors received an update on the local impacts of a recent Medicaid expansion passed by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year at last week’s August meeting. The approved legislation means more Virginians will be covered by health insurance, but it also represents a significant increase in the workload of local Social Service agencies. Sheila Crossen-Powell, director of Hanover’s Social Services, said increases are inevitable due to relaxed eligibility requirements for lower income recipients.
“Before the Medicaid expansion, one million people in the state of Virginia were eligible for Medicaid. We expect an additional 400,000 with the Medicaid expansion.” SHEILA CROSSEN-POWELL Director Hanover County Social Services
“Before the Medicaid expansion, one million people in the state of Virginia were eligible for Medicaid,” Crossen-Powell said. “We expect an additional 400,000 with the Medicaid expansion.”
Candidates for eligibility must be between the ages of 19 and 64, income must be at or below the 138 percent of the Federal poverty line (for one person, about $16,700 annual income), and the candidate must not be eligible or on any other mandatory coverage group. Three groups of eligible citizens are now allowed to apply for Medicaid: childless adults who meet income requirements, parents of children who are currently covered and meet income guidelines and disabled citizens. Minimum incomes for parents and childless adults are increased under the expansion. Hanover County is expecting increases in
Gill: Start of new year includes school improvements (Editor’s note: With the 2018-2019 school year starting on Tuesday, Michael Gill, superintendent of Hanover County Public Schools, submitted the following letter.) Greetings, The start of the school year is always an exciting time for us. The eagerness and smiles on our students’ faces as they return to our classrooms and hallways renew our energy and set a wonderful tone for the year. While our buildings were certainly quieter during the summer, we accomplished a significant amount of work.
Multiple facilities projects have improved the look, feel, and functionality of several of our schools. Perhaps the most notable is the complete renovations of the Lee-Davis and Patrick Henry High School auditoriums that are scheduled to be ready in time for spring performances and assemblies. As part of our Five-Year Technology Plan, we continued updating the technology infrastructure at several of our schools to better support current and future teaching and learning needs. We also completed the installation of a new visitor management system at all of our schools as part
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of Hanover County Public Schools’ ongoing commitment to safety. In addition, the School Board is working on a long-range funding plan in collaboration with the Board of Supervisors to replace or renovate multiple schools over the next decade. The improvements continued beyond the building level. This summer, we also completed the redesign of all of our school and division websites. Our new sites are see GILL, pg. 5
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