2014 promises to be a year of significant change in the healthcare landscape. Most notably, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) “individual mandate” takes effect, requiring Americans to obtain health insurance by March 31 (or pay a penalty). This year will also see Medicaid coverage expansion in those states that opted in to this voluntary provision of the ACA. Expanding Medicaid eligibility is designed to help even more Americans obtain quality healthcare coverage — something that is important not just for the health of an individual, but also for long-term personal financial security.

Last year, the Virginia General Assembly committed to expanding Medicaid, the jointly run federal/state health program for the poor, as long as certain program reforms were implemented. Those reforms, overseen by the Virginia Department of Health and currently under review by a bipartisan legislative committee, include flexibility in how the program is run, cost-containment measures to ensure the program’s future fiscal stability and the option to halt coverage expansion if the federal government doesn’t uphold its financial commitment. Such measures would help rein in the program’s costs, which have grown by 80 percent in the last decade, according to Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services.

The stakes are high and all Virginians — the insured as well as the uninsured — have much to gain if Virginia Medicaid reform and expansion move forward during this General Assembly session. It would help nearly 400,000 of Virginia’s working poor (over 65,000 in Northern Virginia) access primary care coverage, receive annual physicals and undergo preventive care in the most efficient setting; it would preserve hospital emergency room resources for true emergencies rather than primary care; and expansion would bring more than $21 billion in federal funds to the Commonwealth over the next decade — money that could help hospitals, like Inova Alexandria, further our outreach to help even more in the community while offsetting significant federal funding cuts set to hit hospitals over the coming years.

Regardless of these changes, one thing that is not changing is Inova’s commitment to the community. In my last column, I outlined the many ways that Inova Alexandria Hospital and Inova support community health, like hosting public safety events or giving health screenings at various events. As a not-for-profit healthcare system, Inova provided $274 million in community benefit in 2012 (the most current figures available). That number includes $64 million in unreimbursed Medicaid costs. And, in fact, among acute care organizations in Virginia, Inova consistently ranks as one of the top providers of hospital care for Medicaid patients.

I will be heading to Richmond in the next several weeks to join my healthcare colleagues across the Commonwealth in making sure our leaders understand the gravity of this opportunity: Medicaid reform and coverage expansion is something Virginia just can’t afford to pass up in 2014.

Read more about Inova’s commitment at inova.org/community.