Over the last two years, we have witnessed many changes to Virginia’s Medicaid program with the addition of new services that will help Virginians to access high quality, affordable health care. I thank the Governor, Secretary of Health and Human Resources, and members of the General Assembly for their efforts and service to Virginia’s two million Medicaid members.

I also thank the hard-working staff here at the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). Through their expertise and dedication, many Virginians are receiving life changing and much needed health care.

In the last two years, Medicaid has added important services to help Virginians. These included preventive services, such as wellness exams, cancer screenings and vaccines. Virginia also added a new dental benefit for adults and health coverage for mothers and babies for up to 12 months postpartum. Virginia has also begun the rollout of new behavioral health services that will help strengthen the Commonwealth’s crisis system.

We as a Commonwealth and as a health care system have seen many challenges over the last two years as we faced COVID-19, which affected how we worked together, how we accessed these important health care services, and how we viewed what really affected our daily lives. As we look to the next two years, we will be faced with new challenges to our system, including the end of the federal Public Health Emergency and ensuring Virginians continue to have access to the critical health care that they need. These are challenges that I know we can overcome together.

On behalf of the entire DMAS staff, I thank the policy makers, partners, and Virginia’s Medicaid members for bringing us to this moment and look forward to the next two years.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Roberts, Director
Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services