The U.S. House is expected to vote on a sweeping budget package this week that would enact the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in program history—even before potential changes that could increase cuts and accelerate the implementation of provisions that will result in health coverage losses. This legislation breaks key promises made by President…
Health
West Virginia Watch, Beckley Register-Herald - Provisional data shows that overdose deaths in West Virginia declined by an astonishing 43.5% in the last year. Nationally, overdose deaths fell 27% over the same period, the largest one-year decline ever. While researchers are still analyzing the data, declines in overdose deaths have coincided with increased Medicaid coverage…
Charleston MetroNews - As Congress moves toward making significant changes to the federal Medicaid program, Congressman Riley Moore of West Virginia expressed support. Read the full article. Moore said the changes being considered maintain services for those who need the health insurance safety net while reducing spending. The proposals do institute more rigorous requirements that are anticipated…
This week, Congress is marking up their long-awaited committee bills to achieve the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts outlined in April's budget resolution to partially offset the cost of extending expiring tax cuts that primarily benefit the nation's wealthiest households. Many of the provisions would disproportionately harm West Virginia, increasing grocery and health care costs…
WOWK - On this week’s episode of Inside West Virginia Politics, we discuss ambulance services, the transformation of West Virginia State University, budget issues and the work of Soledad O’Brien. Read the full article. In Segment One, we talk to Tom Susman of the Kanawha County Ambulance Authority about rising costs of emergency services. In…
Boston Globe - A music and art festival nestled in an Appalachian river valley wouldn‘t immediately seem like a place where President Trump’sDepartment of Government Efficiency would be top of mind. Read the full article. But outdoorsy locals at the annual Cheat River Festival last weekend were indeedruminating on the many ways the long arm…
This piece was authored by Alex Gallo, the WVCBP's community engagement coordinator. In recent weeks, West Virginia communities have mobilized to demand that their voices be heard as Congress considers sweeping federal budget changes that could decimate essential programs families rely on. Multiple open town hall events were held around the state during the April…
Congress is quickly advancing a legislative package known as ‘budget reconciliation” that seeks to extend 2017’s expiring tax cuts, paid for in part by cutting more than $1 trillion from safety net programs that hundreds of thousands of West Virginians and millions of Americans rely on, including Medicaid and SNAP food assistance. The largest of…
Last week, the U.S. House narrowly passed a budget resolution that sets Congress on a course to enact deep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (food assistance) in order to pay for windfall tax cuts for wealthy households. Combined with tariffs recently implemented by the White House (and expected to cost an estimated $2,700 per household…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting, West Virginia News - A single road connects Shannondale and its roughly 3,000 residents to the rest of Jefferson County. The rural community flanks West Virginia’s easternmost border, fixed between the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains. That makes for breathtaking waterside vistas, but one heck of a grocery commute.…