Reports & Briefs

January 28, 2019 by WVCBP
Medicaid Work Requirements: Challenges and Alternatives

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…

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November 9, 2018 by WVCBP
Making Medicaid Work in the Mountain State

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…

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October 31, 2018 by WVCBP
Climbing the Mountain: Closing the Gender Pay Gap in West Virginia

West Virginia has one of the largest gender pay gaps in the nation and the highest of all surrounding states, according to Climbing the Mountain: Closing the Gender Pay Gap in West Virginia, a new West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report. PDF of report. The report shows shows in 2017, women working full-time, year round in West…

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October 23, 2018 by Sean O'Leary, Ted Boettner
State of Rural West Virginia

West Virginia's population is increasingly living in urban areas, with those urban areas experiencing all the state's job growth in the past quarter century, leaving rural West Virginia behind in many key areas, according to a new West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report. State of Rural West Virginia shows rural West Virginians primarily have…

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August 28, 2018 by Sean O'Leary, Ted Boettner
Strengthening West Virginia Families

West Virginia can create a more prosperous state if the strength of working families and the policies that support them become a priority. This is according to a West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report that details seven policies to reverse the top-down approach that has left the average West Virginian behind. Since 2006, West Virginia…

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April 30, 2018 by WVCBP
Strengthening West Virginia’s Soda Tax Would Bring Much-Needed Revenue, Improve Health Outcomes for Residents

In recent years, both public health advocates and policymakers looking for new revenue for public programs and ways to improve health outcomes have focused on a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) or “soda tax.” Read PDF of report. Numerous research studies have linked the excessive consumption of soda and other sugary drinks to the nation’s epidemic of…

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November 14, 2017 by Sean O'Leary
Poverty in West Virginia: Lack of Progress and New Threats Ahead

Sustained economic gains and strong federal and state programs have led to welcome progress in the nationwide fight against poverty over the last several years. This is good news. But West Virginia isn’t sharing in the national progress, as poverty here remains stagnant.  And actions from Congress and the Trump administration threaten to increase poverty…

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September 28, 2017 by Ted Boettner
Improving Juvenile Justice in West Virginia

Every year in West Virginia, around 4,000 juveniles will appear before a judge. Pending the judge’s decision, a juvenile may be given an improvement period to address the behavior, put on probation, referred to a special court, or committed to some form of out-of-home placement. However, the state’s juvenile justice system can be confusing and…

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September 8, 2017 by Sean O'Leary
State of Working West Virginia – 2017

Poverty is a persistent problem in West Virginia, where tens of thousands of West Virginians live in poverty because their jobs do not pay a living wage. Read the full report. This 10th annual State of Working West Virginia focuses on low-wage work, including demographics of those who do the work; the industries that employ…

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