Richmond Times-Dispatch: Nursing homes say Youngkin’s move puts seniors at risk

VIRGINIA – Virginians deserve to know where Winsome Earle-Sears stands. She already skipped the AARP “People’s Debate,” denying the largest senior organization in Virginia the chance to hear directly from her. Now, when seniors’ very lives are on the line, she refuses to say whether she supports Youngkin’s decision to block bedside care funding.
 
Now nearly 200 nursing homes across Virginia are suing Governor Glenn Youngkin for withholding millions in Medicaid funding meant to pay for bedside care for seniors. The non-partisan Virginia Health Care Association–Virginia Coalition for Assisted Living, led by Keith Hare, a former aide to Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, has asked the Virginia Supreme Court to force the administration to release these funds.
 
As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, this money would directly pay for nurses and aides who provide daily bedside care to seniors. Nursing home leaders have made it clear that blocking this funding puts residents at risk and makes it harder for staff to protect them.

DPVA Chair Lamont Bagby issued the following statement calling on answers from Sears: 

“Glenn Youngkin chose to withhold bedside care for Virginia’s seniors, and Winsome Earle-Sears has chosen silence. She walked away from the AARP debate, she is walking away from seniors now, and families across Virginia are left to wonder if she even cares whether their loved ones get the care they need. This is life and death for our seniors, and Virginians deserve an answer.”
 

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