New story on Virginia medicaid expansion battle

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Gov. Terry McAuliffe renewed his pitch for expanding health care to the poor Friday by touring a field hospital set up at a county fairgrounds, where people had camped out for days for the chance to see a dentist or doctor.

McAuliffe flew to the Remote Area Medical expedition in far southwest Virginia, where the line for free dental and medical care was 1,500 long by 4 a.m. Friday, when organizers started turning people away.

“That just breaks your heart,” said McAuliffe (D), standing in a horse barn that served as a makeshift doctor’s office, with bedsheets strung up between examination tables to provide a measure of privacy.

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McAuliffe spoke to about 100 people in a tent waiting to see a dentist. Gilda Mountcastle, who’d been waiting for care since 5:30 a.m. Thursday, called out from the back of the crowd to say she would not have access to a dentist or eye doctor without the clinic.

But she told a reporter afterward that she did not support Medicaid expansion, which she saw as a government handout.

“We’re hardworking, hillbilly mountain people,” she said. “We’re too proud to beg and bum.”

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