Mountain State Spotlight – When COVID first upended West Virginia in spring 2020, the federal government took steps to make sure people had access to the food and health insurance they needed. In some cases, benefits increased. In others, like Medicaid, state officials were allowed to temporarily stop checking eligibility requirements. Since then, the insurance plan intended to help low-income Americans has allowed anyone using it to stay on the plan, regardless of their family income.
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Many of those changes, however, are now starting to switch back to the way they were. At the beginning of March, the federal nutrition assistance program lowered their payments to pre-pandemic numbers. And starting April 1, West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources will begin checking Medicaid users’ income requirements again.
Throughout April and the coming months, many West Virginians who have the insurance will be sent forms to the physical address DHHR has for them. If they do not respond to that letter quickly, they will likely lose their health insurance.
