Mountain State Spotlight, My Buckhannon - Yesterday was Crossover Day, a key legislative deadline. This is the day when the full universe of bills introduced during the session — 2,316, to be exact — is whittled down. For the most part, bills that didn’t clear their chamber of origin (the House or the Senate) by…
Health
Mountain State Spotlight - For the more than 200,000 public employees who rely on the state’s health insurance agency, their premiums may soon go up. Lawmakers are also advancing a pay raise for state employees but union leaders say they’re worried that it might not offset premium increases now and in the future. Read the…
Mountain State Spotlight, Fayette Tribune - As Katonya Hart stood outside of the House of Delegates chamber at the West Virginia Capitol, a sparkly tiara fastened to her multicolored twists, the energy around her was undeniable. Read the full article. A floor below, the women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. moved about in coordinated…
Wheeling News-Register - Lawmakers discussed a bill Thursday that would help poor families who make just enough to not qualify for Medicaid gain access to affordable health insurance. Read the full article. The House Health and Human Resources Committee recommended for passage Thursday a strike-and-insert amendment to House Bill 3274, creating the Affordable Medicaid Buy-in…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - After federal and state level changes to Medicaid, many Americans will be left without health insurance coverage by the end of the year. Read the full article. To remedy the financial strain on West Virginia families, lawmakers are considering a bill to create a high-quality, low-cost health insurance plan for…
With a relatively short 60-day legislative session, the bills that get considered—and the ones that don’t—tell us a lot about our lawmakers’ priorities. Now that we are exactly halfway through the 2023 session, the WVCBP team lends insight into what we’ve seen prioritized so far and what we would like to see prioritized during the…
WTRF - Poor oral health is widespread in West Virginia, but Wheeling Health Right was recognized nationally for their fully integrated medical and dental free clinic. Read the full article. It significantly affects almost all aspects of life including the workforce, emergency room utilization, and chronic health conditions. According to a 2014 report from the…
Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia Daily News - As West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice stood in the House of Delegates chamber last week delivering the annual State of the State address, he jumped from topic to topic, highlighting his greatest hits. When he came to the state’s abortion ban, the assembled lawmakers rose in a…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald, Times West Virginian - Earlier this month, when lawmakers were still preparing to come to Charleston for the legislative session, WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital dropped a bombshell: it would stop taking the state’s public employees’ health insurance. Almost immediately, lawmakers promised action and on the first day of the session, state…
WTRF - As of July 1, state employees may no longer have their medical care covered at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. Read the full article. Jim Kaufman, President and CEO of the West Virginia Hospitals Association, made that announcement on MetroNews TalkLine on Thursday. It comes after years of issues funding West Virginia Public Employees…