West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the nation, and West Virginians face some of the highest rates of illness and disability. Among the few bright spots are public-funded programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The number of uninsured West Virginians has plummeted since the state’s expansion of Medicaid…
Health
Earlier this month, a US District Court Judge issued a ruling in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit brought by 20 state attorneys general, including West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey. If upheld, this ruling would invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA), which includes many important provisions beyond the ACA’s marketplaces and pre-existing condition protections. It is…
West Virginia University professor Simon F. Haeder provides an assessment of the impact work requirements would have on Medicaid beneficiaries in West Virginia in this new report. More than 200,000 West Virginians would be affected if West Virginia implemented work requirements similar to Kentucky's. Of the 200,000 West Virginians impacted, 70,000 would be be exempt; 36,000…
The annual open enrollment period for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, began on November 1stand continues through December 15th. This is a great time for folks who don’t get insurance through a job, Medicare or Medicaid to shop for health coverage at www.healthcare.gov. The Affordable Care Act and the…
Last week, the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) Task Force held its first meeting to address the growing costs of health care coverage for public workers in West Virginia. The growing costs of health care for teachers and other public employees was a central reason why teachers went on strike for nine school…
With the interest among West Virginia Department of Human Health and Resources, state officials and legislators to modify the state's Medicaid program through a waiver to implement "work requirements" on able-bodied Medicaid expansion recipients, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Senior Policy Analyst Sean O'Leary shows why work requirements don't work. View O'Leary's entire…
Previous blog posts have covered West Virginia’s proposal to modify its Medicaid program through a request to the federal government to waive certain requirements of the law, known as a 1115 waiver. As the posts explained, the proposed 1115 waiver would result in decreased access to health care with fewer West Virginians covered, ultimately harming…
The latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Cassidy-Graham bill, would cut West Virginia's funding for Medicaid by $2.0 billion by 2027. This would undermine health coverage for tens of thousands of West Virginian's and threaten the state's historic gains in health coverage stemming from the Affordable Care Act. The Cassidy-Graham bill cuts…
While it is unclear what version of the legislation the U.S. Senate will plan to take up on Tuesday (7/25) when they vote to proceed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the revised version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) would be particularly harmful to West Virginians. An updated report from the…
The Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the latest Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was introduced in the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2017, and is awaiting a vote. In its current form, the bill would eliminate most of the provisions of the ACA, including its tax provisions, and drastically cut…