Health care a focal point at 94th District debate

Health care took a chunk of the focus Monday night between Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News, and his opponent for the 94th District race, Shelly Simonds, during a debate just a week out from the election.

During the hourlong debate at Christopher Newport University, Simonds targeted Yancey’s voting record on access to health care for low-income families and women.

Their Libertarian opponent, Michael Bartley, said he wasn’t asked to participate. Organizers for the event couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on that.

In her opening, Simonds said expanding Medicaid is her first priority if elected. She said Yancey joined other Republicans in a move to “spite Obama” when they voted against Medicaid expansion.

In his opening statement, Yancey pointed to his bill passed this year forbidding insurance companies from holding proton therapy to a different standard than other radiation treatments.

Quentin Kidd, the moderator and director of CNU’s Wason Center for Public Policy, asked early on about Yancey’s record on women’s health care and abortion, related to criticism from Simonds’ campaign.

Yancey said he supports that abortion is legal in Virginia, but women should have “all the information” before they opt for it. In 2012, Yancey voted for the now-law that requires women to get an ultrasound before getting an abortion.

He also pointed out his support of a bill signed into law this year that allows pharmacists to give women up to a year’s worth of birth control at once if prescribed by a doctor. Simonds rebutted that he voted against giving Planned Parenthood $200,000 in extra funding in 2012.

On a question about the Certificate of Public Need — which gives state regulators the say over whether hospitals, clinics and similar facilities can open or expand — Yancey said he supports reforming it. The program, he said, works against free market competition, making it tough for working-class families to pay for costly treatments without a cheaper alternative.

Simonds said that blue-collar families already can’t afford to see the doctor because there isn’t good access to health care. Allowing clinics to open leaves hospitals with no way to shoulder the burden of emergency care costs, she said.

The two addressed several other topics, including redistricting reform, voting rights for felons, the environment and education.

Simonds said she believes in nonpartisan redistricting led by an appointed nonpartisan committee. Yancey said gerrymandering is a problem but questioned who could appoint such a committee.

Simonds pushed back, and out of debate format, said she “would really like to know if my opponent supports (nonpartisan redistricting) or not.” Kidd gave Yancey the chance to answer; he did not.

Simonds called out Yancey multiple times for criticizing Newport News Public Schools’ performance during her time as a School Board member on his mailers — test scores went down sharply after her first year. She said he was attacking the system without context: The state expected scores to drop that year after making tests more rigorous.

“Our kids didn’t get dumber; the tests got harder,” she said.

Yancey said he’s not attacking the schools and that he’s worked with the system many times, but the research on the scores speaks for itself. If tests are tough, it’s because kids must get ready for a future in which they’re “competing with China, Germany,” he said.

The one thing Yancey and Simonds fully agreed on: City Farm. Kidd said he “must have received 50 emails” about asking the candidates if they think City Farm should remain a public park. A group of city residents have advocated since last year for making the 58-acre chunk of city-owned land a public park after a developer proposed building homes on it.

Yancey, like Simonds, said he supports making it a public park and looking at how the city’s history could be promoted there. When it was Simonds’ turn, she threw her arms in the air and said, “Yes!”

Amin can be reached by phone at 757-247-4890 or on Twitter at @reemadamin.