News · Press Release

WAVY: “LURIA UNVEILS HEALTHCARE PLAN AIMED AT LOWERING COSTS, SAVING RURAL PROVIDERS”

While Jen Kiggans votes for historic health care cuts and higher premiums, Elaine Luria has a plan to lower costs and expand access to care
Navy veteran and former Congresswoman Elaine Luria has unveiled her plan to tackle the rising health care costs and rural hospital closures her opponent helped unleash. Her plan stands in stark contrast to vulnerable Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans’ record, which includes voting to gut Medicaid and jack up health care costs.

WAVY reported on Luria’s plan to “make healthcare more accessible and affordable for every Virginian.” The new agenda will expand rural healthcare options and crack down on predatory, for-profit middlemen jacking up prices.

Elaine’s announcement comes just one day after a health care roundtable she held at an at-risk hospital in Southampton County.

Read more from WAVY about Elaine’s plan to make health care affordable here:

WAVY: Luria unveils healthcare plan aimed at lowering costs, saving rural providers

  • Former Representative and current Democratic candidate for Congress Elaine Luria unveiled her plan Thursday for healthcare reform, saying her vision will make healthcare more accessible and affordable for every Virginian.
  • Luria’s announcement comes on the heels of a roundtable she held Wednesday evening in Franklin. That area’s Bon Secours Southampton Medical Center is critical — but it’s also listed among the rural Virginia hospitals most likely to close.
  • “We heard some very personal stories from people — actual things that had happened, life or death type situations,” Luria said in an exclusive Thursday interview with WAVY. “A woman had a seafood allergy, and had she not been able to be rushed to the emergency room [in Franklin], and had to go all the way to Suffolk or Emporia for emergency care, she might not have made it.”
  • Luria said she wants to cut the cost of coverage, close the gap in rural healthcare and simplify the whole process of medical coverage.
  • “There’s so many things that have to do with billing and prior authorizations,” Luria said. “People might not be aware, but the only children in the country who cannot stay on their parent’s health care until 26 are military dependents on Tricare.”
  • Luria is pledging to crack down on what she describes as predatory medical debt collectors, pharmaceutical monopolies and Wall Street firms buying hospitals for profit.
  • She also wants to expand access to telehealth, mobile and community healthcare options.

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