Foxx, 81, has served as the U.S. representative for District 5 since 2004. Before that, she spent 10 years in the N.C. Senate. She has degrees in English and sociology, as well as an Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching/higher education from UNC Greensboro. She taught at Caldwell Community College and Appalachian State University, where she later held several administrative positions, including assistant dean of the General College. She also served as president and later a consultant at Mayland Community College from 1987-1994. She also served as deputy secretary for management in Gov. Jim Martin’s N.C. Department of Administration.
Our Q&A with Virginia Foxx
NC Health News reached out to Virginia Foxx multiple times without receiving a response. For candidates who did not respond, we researched each candidate by searching their Congressional voting records and social media, going to events, tracking their public comments, searching their campaign websites and conducting searches of other media outlets.
What would be your plan for ensuring the future security/ strength of Medicare?
Foxx did not respond to this question, however, she wrote this on her campaign website: “‘Power to the Patients’ is the GOP Medicare mantra. Our reforms will ensure the current Medicare program continues for all today’s seniors. For future beneficiaries, Medicare will be patterned after the highly successful Medicare Advantage program. Future seniors will have the option to choose between traditional Medicare and a wide variety of competitive health plans (the same ones available to members of Congress). This is the only credible proposal on the table that would preserve Medicare, get its finances in order, and ensure its viability for years to come.”
What would you support in Congress as a plan to help control health care/ pharmaceutical costs?
Foxx did not respond to this question, however, last year she cosponsored HR 5378, the “Lower Costs, More Transparency Act,” which would require health care providers and insurers share information on costs with patients. The bill also would require more transparency from and add more oversight of pharmacy benefit managers, who help negotiate costs and payments between drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and health care insurance providers.
Where do you stand on time limits for Medicaid and work requirements for the program?
Foxx did not respond to this question. However, as recently as last year she co-sponsored legislation that would require individuals ages 19 to 55 to work, perform community service, or participate in a work program (or a combination of these) for at least 80 hours per month. Anyone not meeting those requirements for three or more months in a year could be disenrolled. Some Medicaid recipients, such as those physically unable to work or enrolled at least part-time in school, would be exempt.
What can the federal government do to support rural hospitals?
Foxx did not respond to this question. However, she has co-sponsored for several years a bill that would provide incentives to physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities.
Where do you stand on restoring funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program?
No response available. An extension of the program was introduced in the House of Representatives in January, 2024 with 232 cosponsors, including 25 Republicans. Foxx was not one of them.
PFAS contamination is a country-wide issue; How do you balance public safety and business interests with this issue?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
Is the federal government ready for the next pandemic? Why or why not?
Foxx did not respond to this questions, but she sponsored the “Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act of 2021,” which sought to form a commission to “review certain regulatory obstacles to preparedness for, response to, and recovery from the COVID–19 pandemic and other pandemic.”
In 2009, Congress required more transparency from hospitals on their charitable work. Do you think the federal government should enforce stricter requirements for nonprofit hospitals to justify their tax exemptions? Why or why not?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
Where do you stand on federal abortion limits? What gestational limits, if any, would you set?
Foxx did not respond to this question. As recently as last year, she sponsored legislation that would prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from awarding family planning grants to entities that perform abortions or provide funding to other entities that perform abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s health is at risk. She also has signed on to legislation that prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for abortions, and a resolution that “condemns the Biden administration for its pro-abortion policies.”
How can Congress improve access to child care? What states are leading the way that you think could be a good federal model? What are your thoughts on the EITC/child care tax credit?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
What steps would you take to improve access to mental health services and to address the opioid overdose crisis?
She has previously supported legislation to address the opioid crisis, including H.R. 6: Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment. And in 2022 she supported the “The bipartisan Reduce Exposure and the Threat of Unused Residual Narcotics Act,” which sought to make it easier for both manufacturers and consumers to keep opioids off the streets by “creating a commonsense approach to the destruction of unused opioids. It’s high time that this issue gets the attention it so deserves.”