Earlier this year, House and Senate leaders were deadlocked about ending a huge tax exemption for data centers. They ended up with a compromise: hit the data centers with a new consumption tax to charge them for energy use.
Now that money is being invested— $150 million in the Virginia Premium Savings program.
"In some cases, the Virginia Bureau of Insurance got the premiums down—for some people, pay only $15 a month towards the silver HMO plan. And I'm really hopeful that these reduced insurance rates will get people to sign back up," says Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. "We had over 70,000 people leave the rolls because of the increases in premiums that Congress caused. This'll get people back on insurance."
Keven Patchett is executive director of the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, and he says the budget compromise will help people transition from free healthcare to the marketplace in a way that prevents many from losing their coverage.
"Over 50,000 more Virginians this year are going to be eligible for plans under $10 a month." according to Patchett. "And we are optimistic in the impact that that's going to have in terms of stabilizing enrollment and moving the needle on the affordability question for Virginians who really are transitioning off of Medicaid and entering the commercial market."
The program goes live at the beginning of October for window shopping, and coverage will start in November.
