Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 298 of the 1997 Session of the General Assembly directs the Joint Commission on Health Care, in cooperation with the Board of Health, the Department of Health, the Board of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Commonwealth's academic health centers, and various governmental entities to study the provisions of health care for the indigent and uninsured. The resolution also directs the Joint Commission to confer with local governments, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, the Virginia Indigent Health Care Trust Fund Technical Advisory Panel, the Virginia Primary Care Association, and other appropriate public and private entities regarding various issues related to the provision of health care for the indigent and uninsured.

Specifically, SJR 298 directs the Joint Commission to:

(i) analyze the recently completed survey on the insurance status of Virginians;

(ii) evaluate the underlying reasons for persons being uninsured;

(iii) assess the impact of not-for-profit to for-profit hospital conversions may be having on the indigent and uninsured;

(iv) analyze the impact that the provision of care for these populations has on individual providers and hospitals, particularly the academic health centers;

(v) assess the role that projects supported by the Virginia Health Care Foundation and the Virginia Indigent Health Care Trust Fund play in meeting the needs of the uninsured;

(vi) evaluate the appropriateness of expanding Medicaid coverage to certain segments of the uninsured population;

(vii) analyze the accessibility to child health preventive services;

(viii) analyze the cause, prevalence and impact of the inability of indigents to purchase prescribed medications; and

(ix) analyze whether subsidies to purchase private health insurance should be implemented.