Most Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic clients seem more confused about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, than afraid of it.

"I think people are hearing a lot of information on the national level and may not necessarily know what is happening in Virginia," said the clinic’s executive director Kay Bradley. 

According to Bradley, the GMFC will be impacted in several different ways when various components of the ACA begin coming into play.

The first component is the workplace insurance exchange program. Virginia has opted to go with the federal version of this program, which will begin Oct. 1. The second area of potential impact is if/when Virginia signs onto Medicaid coverage expansion.

Medicaid expansion impacts those living at up to 138 percent of the federal poverty limit, Bradley said. "About 50 percent of our patients will qualify for Medicaid with the expansion."

The issue with this, she said, is that the new Medicaid patients will hav...