Mountain State Spotlight, Times West Virginian, Fayette Tribune - Across West Virginia, it’s already hard for many people to access health care. And unless state lawmakers change the budget they passed last month, it’s about to get even more difficult, especially for people who live in the most rural areas and those considered lower income. Read the…
Health
Wheeling Intelligencer, The Inter-Mountain, West Virginia News - Advocates for a strong and robust Medicaid system in West Virginia say the program is healthy, but changes and cuts being considered by the Legislature could put the program at risk of not meeting the needs of state residents. Read the full article. Advocacy organizations gathered in…
West Virginia MetroNews - Senate Finance Chairman Eric Tarr says state budget items may be revisited over the next few months, but he proposes a cautious approach to spending on health and human services. Read the full article. Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, has said he’ll soon call a special session over state financial matters, especially over…
West Virginia MetroNews, WCHS - Amid nearly one-third of West Virginians relying on Medicaid, the state-federal affordable healthcare insurance program could face over a $100 million dollar shortfall if lawmakers don’t act. Read the full article. State healthcare experts met on Monday morning in Charleston advocating for West Virginia legislators to vote to preserve and…
West Virginia Watch, News from the States, Bluefield Daily Telegraph - With a special legislative session to address the state budget on the horizon, advocates for West Virginia Medicaid called on state policy makers Monday to fund the health care program. Read the full article. Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health…
Bolts - In the months leading up to her death, Ashley Omps of Charleston, West Virginia, felt ashamed to be taking suboxone. It was prescribed to her to treat opioid dependency by limiting cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and though it was clearly a much healthier alternative to the pills and heroin she’d been taking before,…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - The lack of a disease or a death is a success that’s hard to celebrate, even though it provides people with the health to live life freely. West Virginia’s high childhood vaccination rate is one of these successes. Read the full article. The state, unlike 45 others, requires children in…
Mountain State Spotlight - West Virginia’s babies and new mothers are at concerningly high risk of dying during and around childbirth. One of the key state strategies for addressing these problems are the infant and maternal mortality review teams, government-mandated panels to identify why people are dying, which groups are most at risk and what can be…
Mountain State Spotlight - West Virginia health officials say they urgently need nearly $300 million in new funding to help residents who desperately need drug treatment and recovery, protect the state’s children from abuse, and aid those mired in poverty. Read the full article. The health officials laid out their case to Gov. Jim Justice…
Appalachian Times - In a distressing turn of events, the federal government has raised red flags regarding the substantial decline in Medicaid health coverage for children across nine states. West Virginia, grappling with its own concerns, reports a worrying trend, sparking urgent attention to this critical issue affecting the most vulnerable demographic—children. Read the full…