Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger toured a Northern Virginia health clinic Thursday, touting the progress the state has made in capping insulin costs and preventing prescription drugs from becoming unaffordable.
At Neighborhood Health in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, Spanberger said medical experts have warned about the impact of the 鈥淥ne Big Beautiful Bill,鈥� particularly on community health clinics where patients may be losing access to Medicaid.
The facility, Spanberger said, is the largest Federally Qualified Health Clinic in the commonwealth. The primary care site also includes pediatrics, dental, behavioral health and a pharmacy, offering continuity of care.
Del. Paul Krizek, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Fairfax County Supervisor Dan Storck joined Spanberger, who spoke to patients and doctors on site.
鈥淔QHCs like this one are extraordinary in terms of the service that they provide not just to the individual patient, but to the overall community,鈥� Spanberger told reporters. 鈥淎nd certainly understanding the incredible successes they’ve had, the challenges they face, the challenges and the headwinds that are set to get stronger in the coming months and years, is extraordinarily important for those of us at the state level.鈥�
There are about 300,000 Virginians on Medicaid expansion who have taken steps to ensure they鈥檙e compliant with future requirements of the program, Spanberger said, and there are others living in the U.S. legally as asylees or refugees 鈥渨ho are on path to losing their Medicaid coverage.鈥�
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 calls for new administrative requirements and eligibility conditions for Medicaid, according to the American Medical Association.
In the recently-passed biennial budget package, Spanberger said there鈥檚 funding to support residents who could be at risk of losing their healthcare.
鈥淭hat is state dollars to counteract and mitigate some of the harms of bad federal policy,鈥� Spanberger said. 鈥淏ut we cannot mitigate every lost federal dollar, and certainly, it is extraordinary organizations and health clinics like this one that are doing a lot of that daily hard work.鈥�
In May, Spanberger signed a bill that decreases the out-of-pocket cost for a 30-day supply of insulin and ensures insurance company rules don鈥檛 cause delays for necessary medical care.
Separately, Spanberger said Thursday that federal funding cuts for states have meant fewer vaccines are available at federally qualified health facilities such as Neighborhood Health.
Earlier this week, Virginia鈥檚 Department of Health reaffirmed its support for the existing childhood vaccination schedule. The announcement came in response to President Donald Trump鈥檚 executive order calling for changes to that schedule, including separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into separate single-disease shots.
鈥淐ertainly, as a mom, I support vaccinating our kids, and as a governor, I do worry about the impacts that we have seen in some of our communities where vaccination rates are lower and we have seen outbreaks,鈥� Spanberger said.
Will Spanberger weigh in on future data center cases?
A week after she announced plans to intervene in the State Corporation Case involving the proposed Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger, Spanberger said she doesn鈥檛 plan to intervene in other SCC cases.
By intervening in the proposed merger, Spanberger will become a party in the case, gaining access to key documents. Last week, she described the step as the first for a Virginia governor.
鈥淪omething as massive and as unprecedented as the merger or the potential acquisition of Virginia’s largest utility monopoly for $67 billion requires, in my opinion, obviously, that we have every bit of information necessary to provide comments based on what is the sort of evolution of that process,鈥� Spanberger said Thursday.
Residents across Virginia, including in Fairfax County, have been urging Spanberger to step in to stop data center and substation projects.
In one case, a community in Alexandria sent a letter to Spanberger asking her to intervene and stop a plan for a substation at the site of the old Plaza 500 space along Edsall Road.
The group cited Spanberger鈥檚 intervention in the proposed merger case as a reason for her to get involved in that one.
But, Spanberger said Thursday, her 鈥渃urrent stature as it relates to other SCC cases is that I do not intend to intervene in other SCC cases.鈥�
However, she said, her administration has submitted comments to the SCC in cases it has concerns about.
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