Virginia: Gov. McAuliffe manages to add 25K to Medicaid despite GOP obstruction of 375K more

The Republicans controlling the Virginia state legislature have been fighting tooth & nail to prevent 400,000 of their fellow Virginians from receiving healthcare, but Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe has finally found a way to squeeze 25,000 people onto Medicaid anyway by reshuffling the deck of existing executive regulatory rules:

RICHMOND — Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on Monday unveiled a plan to insure an additional 25,000 Virginians, a measure that falls far short of his vow to defy the Republican-controlled legislature and find a way to expand coverage to 400,000.

After losing a months-long Medicaid fight in June, McAuliffe declared that he would close the “coverage gap” on his own.

On Monday, he announced a much more modest series of proposals, primarily designed to improve care for people already in Medicaid and boost outreach efforts to people who already qualify for it, but are not enrolled.

The plan would change enrollment criteria for about 25,000 people, including 20,000 who are severely mentally ill and 5,000 children of state employees.

As you'll recall, the Republicans in the Virginia legislature went so far as to potentially commit a felony back in June by bribing a "Democratic" state Senator into resigning, thus giving them control over both houses.

As far as I can tell, the Governor's move isn't really directly connected to the Affordable Care Act, but I could be wrong.