A plan announced last week by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin could mean significant savings for state government and local government agencies, plus provide thousands of West Virginia children with better health insurance coverage, according to backers of the proposal. Read
Whether the plan comes to fruition is dependent on the federal government approving Tomblin’s request for a waiver to rules that prohibit dependents of public employees from enrolling in the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. That program provides coverage for low-income families or for families who have recently lost their health insurance, and nearly 25,000 children from the Mountain State already are enrolled in it.
