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Big Beautiful Bill cuts to Medicaid will quake Virginia hospitals, health care experts say
Experts are warning that cuts the One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes to Medicaid pose a significant threat to rural hospitals, but hospitals across Virginia are bracing for the impact. Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, for example, projects a loss of more than $20 million as a result of the cuts. “While the fiscal impact on our organization is significant, the greater travesty lies in what this means for our patients, particularly the more than 15% who rely on Medicaid,” said Reese Jackson, president and CEO.
Va. prison ombudsman holds first stakeholder meeting
Legislation introduced during the 2024 General Assembly session created an ombudsman position to oversee the Virginia Department of Corrections. Andrea Sapone took the role in September, and later promised to prioritize an investigation into Red Onion State Prison. She held her first stakeholder meeting Tuesday to explain how the office works and what it’s accomplished so far. Sapone said her office is focused on high-level issues at prisons across the state. The unit has published several inspection reports since February and completed work on about 12 others.
Virginia Democrats join Planned Parenthood to launch ‘Bros for Repro’
Several incumbent Democrats running in competitive House of Delegates districts joined Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia in launching its “Bros for Repro” campaign on Tuesday. “Women are family members, they are spouses, they are many things to lots of different men, and they care and want those people to stay in their lives,” said Del. Josh Thomas (D-Prince William). “It just seems like it’s a cheesy slogan on a very serious topic,” said Republican Tim Anderson, who’s challenging one of the Bros for Repro, Del. Michael Feggans (D-Virginia Beach).
Students, faculty, and lawmakers rally behind GMU amid Trump administration civil rights probe
When student Hanaan Kazia first heard about the federal civil rights probe into George Mason University, she wasn’t surprised. But the junior political science major and member of the school’s Political Science Honor Society says the implications still scare her. “I think it is kind of frightening, because I know that one of the reasons that I went to Mason and one of the reasons why other people have attended Mason is because it is one of the most diverse public universities in Virginia,” Kazia told The Mercury in an interview Tuesday.
VPAP Visual House of Delegates Mid-Year Fundraising
See how much money candidates for the House of Delegates have raised so far this election cycle, from Jan. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and how much money they still have in their campaigns. Filter the list to see information on challengers, incumbents, and candidates running for open seats, or click through for more information.
VPAP Visual Statewide Mid-Year Fundraising
How much have statewide candidates raised so far this election cycle as of June 30? Toggle to see candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
Hopewell sewage spill highlights need for spending on wastewater. Will federal funds dry up?
The Hopewell Water Renewal wastewater treatment plant released over 1 million gallons of untreated sewage into the James River on Friday night following an electrical failure. The spill resulted in an advisory warning against swimming, fishing or otherwise coming into contact with the river from the Old City Waterfront Park to the Berkley Plantation. The advisory will likely be in place until Friday, giving the section of river time to flush or settle out the contaminants. In 2024, over two-thirds of the water treated by Hopewell Water Renewal came from industrial sources, which is contaminated with different chemicals than domestic sewage.
State reasserts board of visitors’ importance after Trump forces out UVa’s Ryan
When University of Virginia president Jim Ryan was forced out of his job last month, the school’s governing board was seemingly left out of the process. The board of visitors never cast a vote on Ryan’s performance or met immediately before his resignation, raising questions about whether the body held Ryan accountable as the law requires. On Tuesday, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, or SCHEV, issued a statement stressing the importance of each school’s board of visitors’ responsibility to shape policy.
Virginia’s fall elections to determine whether abortion will be on the ballot in 2026
Jessica Anderson was a freshman in college juggling a full course load and two jobs when her birth control failed. Anderson talked about her options with her partner at the time, as well as her parents, and decided to terminate the pregnancy. Navigating the state’s mandatory waiting period was difficult, she recalled, but federal abortion rights ultimately protected her ability to choose an abortion. Anderson went on to have three daughters, and decades later, she credits access to the procedure with paving the way for her future family. Anderson is running for one of the most hotly contested seats in the Virginia legislature this November, and she is making the fate of a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights in the state a top issue of her campaign.
Planned Parenthood says Trump’s megabill targets thousands of Virginians’ health care
Thousands of Virginians use Medicaid at Planned Parenthood health centers across the state for reproductive health care services every year. But a provision in President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” could cut off those people from accessing services using federal support. The organization serves roughly 25,000 people per year in the commonwealth, according to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia spokesperson RaeAnn Pickett. That includes nearly 800 people who use Medicaid for Planned Parenthood services in Virginia every month. With the potential cuts, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Lockhart said that’s subject to change.