Health Care for Virginians
Access to Health Care for Poor Children
Delegate Brink has been a leading advocate for providing access to the children of Virginia’s working poor. The Commonwealth’s FAMIS (Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan) program provides care to children of the working poor. Virginia receives $2 in Federal matching funds for every dollar it spends on the program but enrollment varies from 2/3 of eligible children in Northern Virginia to less than 10% in other places in the state. In addition, Virginia plan had some of the strictest eligibility requirements of any state in the nation. Delegate Brink sponsored several bills directly addressing FAMIS:
Expanding Eligibility & Enrollment - Delegate Brink successfully proposed changes that eliminated some of the barriers to participation, and required the state to develop a comprehensive, statewide community- based outreach plan to enroll children, with specific strategies in underperforming localities. Also, the bill required the state to enroll children of parents who are transitioning from welfare to work.
Ensuring Stability of Care and Efficiency – Month-to-month fluctuations of income due to seasonal, short-term, and temporary work causes many children to bounce between FAMIS, Medicaid, and other program eligibility. To prevent children from losing care, and to provide stable care, Delegate Brink passed legislation that insured FAMIS-eligible children for 12 months at a time. The elimination of monthly income reviews saves administrative costs and makes sure that as many children are covered as possible.

Supporting Virginia’s Free Clinics
Over 50,000 Virginians receive care from the Commonwealth’s network of free clinics. These free clinics are critical for low-income Virginians who can’t afford insurance. Many clinics had difficulty providing insurance for their staff. Delegate Brink passed legislation that included clinic staff in Virginia’s “Risk Management Plan”, which provides insurance for Virginia’s political subdivisions. Delegate Brink also successfully passed legislation (HB1441) which allowed free clinics to buy into multi-state purchasing compacts, bringing the costs of expensive prescription drugs down.

Organ and Tissue Donor Registry
Delegate Brink sponsored the 2000 bill that created the Virginia Organ and Tissue Donor Registry (HB1257).

Researching Cures for Disease
In 2007, Delegate Brink co-sponsored a $500,000 funding increase for the new Hampton Roads Proton Beam Therapy Institute, one of only a handful of facilities in the nation using one of the most effective methods for selective destruction of cancer cells, which opens up over 2,000 treatment slots a year. Unlike traditional radiation treatment, proton beam therapy sends a targeted beam that avoids surrounding healthy tissue. Del. Brink also has voted repeatedly for stem-cell research, which could help save lives.

Funding for Disabled Care
In 2007, Delegate Brink sponsored a $50,000 funding increase for the Walter Reed Adult Daycare Center, serving physically and cognitively-impaired adults and seniors, while reducing state Medicaid payments by allowing clients to live with their families, and co-sponsored a $150,000 funding increase for the National Rehabilitation & Rediscovery Foundation, serving disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.