Poor oral health is widespread in West Virginia. It significantly affects the employability of our workforce, contributes to higher emergency room utilization, and is often both an indicator of and a contributor to other chronic health conditions. According to a 2014 report, only 40 percent of West Virginians have dental insurance.[1] While Medicaid expansion has…
Health
Medicaid’s Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provisions help ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries including people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, or mental illnesses, are able to receive services in home-based or community settings rather than in an institutional setting. These critical provisions of Medicaid help beneficiaries fully participate and live in their communities and…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released a long-awaited ruling on Texas v. United States, a court case regarding the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). When the lawsuit was filed last year, it was roundly mocked as frivolous by legal experts on both sides of the political…
Between 2016 and 2018, over 1,500 West Virginia children under the age of six lost health coverage and became uninsured, representing a 69.8 percent increase in the uninsured rate among that population. Over the same period nationally, the uninsured rate increased by only 12.7 percent. West Virginia is one of only 11 states to see…
Increasing affordability for prescription drugs has been a top concern for voters across the political spectrum, with skyrocketing insulin costs at the forefront of conversations. Nationally, the list prices of insulin tripled between 2002 and 2013. The average annual spending on insulin per type 1 diabetic doubled between 2012 and 2016. Source: Health Care Cost…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - While the United States is a low-tax country compared to most industrialized nations, for a majority of Americans it doesn’t feel this way. That’s largely because private health insurance companies receive a large portion of our income every month. If we sent our money to a publicly run health insurance plan (e.g. Medicare)…
If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court’s decision, the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be invalidated (though it would almost assuredly go before the Supreme Court for a final decision before action is taken). Twenty million Americans, including 162,000 West Virginians, stand to lose their health care coverage…
Washington Post - WVCBP Director of Policy Engagement Kelly Allen is quoted in this Washington Post article on how West Virginians have been losing coverage and enrollment in the Obamacare marketplace since 2017. One of the reasons may be because West Virginia is one of just three states banning "silver loading" which, if allowed, would…
The Affordable Care Act has been an undeniable success in West Virginia, both in terms of insuring our residents and boosting our economy. Unfortunately, since 2017, our uninsured rate has increased and enrollment in the ACA marketplace has declined sharply. This is likely due to several factors, including reduced Medicaid participation and confusion over the…
Earlier this year, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and the Trump Administration began encouraging states to apply for “block grant” waivers for their Medicaid programs. These waivers would allow states to bypass federal standards and beneficiary protections in exchange for agreeing to caps on the federal Medicaid funding they receive.…