Health

April 6, 2025 by Kelly Allen
Capito Acknowledges Medicaid is Under Scrutiny as Congress Works on Budget Deal

West Virginia MetroNews - As Congress moves closer to a budget deal, Senator Shelley Moore Capito has acknowledged the possibility of significant effects on Medicaid. Read the full article. Medicaid is a joint federal and state program for health insurance and medical services, traditionally for low-income people but more recently also for the working class.…

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April 3, 2025 by WVCBP
Press Conference Highlighting How Federal Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care, Food Assistance, and Education in McDowell County

For Immediate Release: April 3, 2025 Contact: Vivian Anderson, (304)-585-7413  McDowell County, WV— One of West Virginia’s most economically challenged and rural counties is bracing for the devastating impact of federal budget cuts, which threaten essential programs and the already fragile health care infrastructure that serves the region. The proposed cuts would drastically reduce funding for…

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March 31, 2025 by Kelly Allen
WV Lawmakers Put Medicaid Expansion Trigger Bill on Inactive Calendar

West Virginia Watch, Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginia lawmakers on Monday walked back a measure that would have put more than 165,000 residents at risk of losing their health care coverage through Medicaid expansion.  Read the full article. House Bill 3518 would have put in place a trigger so that if the federal government lowered the…

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March 28, 2025 by Kelly Allen
Trigger Bill Puts Health Coverage for 165,000 and $1 Billion at Risk

On Thursday, the House Finance committee originated a bill, HB 3518, that would “disenroll and eliminate state coverage” for the Medicaid expansion population if the federal match for the program is reduced. According to the most recent data available (December 2024), more than 165,000 West Virginians between the ages of 19-64 would lose their health…

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March 28, 2025 by Seth DiStefano
RFK Jr. Pushes Ban on Soda From Being Purchased With Food Stamps

Washington Post, Spokesman Review - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s quest to reshape food policy in America took him to an event in West Virginia with the state’s Republican governor, who announced Friday his intent to seek the federal government’s help in barring the use of food stamps to buy soda. Read the full article. “Taxpayer…

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March 26, 2025 by Rhonda Rogombe
Bill That Could Decrease SNAP Eligibility Clears Senate

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - The state Senate passed Senate Bill 249 which would expand training and employment requirements to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The bill also pushes back the age at which West Virginians would no longer have to participate in those work requirements for SNAP eligibility. Read the full article. …

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March 26, 2025 by Rhonda Rogombe
WV Senate Passes Bill that Would Expand Work, Training Requirements for SNAP

West Virginia Watch - The West Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would expand the work and training requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps.  Read the full article. Senators approved Senate Bill 249 with no discussion and a vote of 32 to 2.  With some exceptions, able-bodied people without dependents…

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March 18, 2025 by Kelly Allen
Efforts to Privatize PEIA are Misguided or Punitive

This legislative session at least four bills have been introduced that would abolish or privatize the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA). All seem to be rooted in one of two premises: (1) health insurance could be better and more affordable if privatized; (2) the state no longer wants the expense of self-insuring employees anymore. If…

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