Advertisement
  • Contact Us
  • State News
  • National News
  • Legals
Subscribe For $2.50/month
Print Editions
Mountain Messenger
  • News
    • Local News
    • Courthouse
      • Civil Suits
      • Deeds
      • Marriages
      • Public Meetings
      • Reunions
    • Club News
    • Education
    • Business News
    • Entertainment
    • Sports News
  • Spiritual
    • Parabola
    • Southern Baptist
    • Transcendental Meditation
    • Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
    • Church Bulletin
  • Obituaries
  • Columns
    • A Look Back
    • Back Down Country Roads
    • Dear Recycle Lady
    • Between The Lines
    • Letters to the Editor
  • eMessenger
  • Special Publications
    • Properties and Lifestyles
    • State Fair Guide
  • My Account
  • Login
  • FAQ
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Local News
    • Courthouse
      • Civil Suits
      • Deeds
      • Marriages
      • Public Meetings
      • Reunions
    • Club News
    • Education
    • Business News
    • Entertainment
    • Sports News
  • Spiritual
    • Parabola
    • Southern Baptist
    • Transcendental Meditation
    • Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
    • Church Bulletin
  • Obituaries
  • Columns
    • A Look Back
    • Back Down Country Roads
    • Dear Recycle Lady
    • Between The Lines
    • Letters to the Editor
  • eMessenger
  • Special Publications
    • Properties and Lifestyles
    • State Fair Guide
  • My Account
  • Login
  • FAQ
No Result
View All Result
Mountain Messenger
No Result
View All Result

New report shows WV would be among among hardest hit under Senate Republican Health Bill  

Mountain Media, LLC by Mountain Media, LLC
July 7, 2017
in Opinions
0
0
SHARES
7
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Commentary

Senate Republicans are considering a health care bill that would hit West Virginia harder than almost any other state, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under the Senate Republican bill, 218,000 West Virginians would lose coverage in 2022 compared to current law – dramatically increasing the uninsured rate for the state’s non-elderly population by more than 300 percent, the largest increase in any state. That means that one in-every-seven non-elderly West Virginians who would otherwise have coverage would lose it under the bill, the report – which draws on Urban Institute data – shows.

“The Senate GOP health bill would be a disaster for West Virginia and is fatally flawed,” said Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “No amount of tweaks can fix the fundamental problems that make this bill so harmful to the people of our state: failing to ensure access to affordable coverage, failing to combat the opioid crisis, cutting Medicaid deeply and ending our expansion, and harming rural health care providers.”

In addition to the large coverage losses, tens of thousands more West Virginians would face worse or less affordable health coverage. And, even West Virginians with job-based coverage could be hurt.

The Senate Bill Would:

  • Effectively end West Virginia’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which covers 180,000 West Virginians and provides vital support to the state’s rural hospitals;
  • Radically overhaul – and sharply cut – the underlying Medicaid program, through which many West Virginia seniors, children, and people with disabilities get their coverage;
  • Increase premiums, deductibles, or both for most of the roughly 30,000 West Virginians who purchase health coverage through the marketplace, especially older people;
  • Weaken protections for West Virginians who purchase individual market coverage, which would be especially harmful for people with pre-existing conditions; and
  • Potentially result in the return of annual and lifetime limits for a significant share of the roughly 700,000 West Virginians with job-based coverage.

By taking coverage and consumer protections from so many West Virginians, the Senate bill also would make it harder for those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) to get needed treatment, undermining West Virginia’s efforts to address the opioid crisis.

Additional funding for treatment that Senate Republicans reportedly will add to their bill would fall far short of offsetting the enormous damage that the underlying Senate bill would cause.

“There are many opportunities for Congress to improve our health care system,” said Boettner said.  “But this bill can’t be fixed: the Senate needs to start over and take a different, bipartisan approach.”

The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is a public policy research organization that is nonpartisan, nonprofit, and statewide. The Center focuses on how policy decisions affect all West Virginians, especially low- and moderate-income families.

Sign up for our newsletter.

Enter your email address to receive weekly updates.

You will receive a confirmation email for your subscription. Please check your inbox and spam folder to complete the confirmation process.
Some fields are missing or incorrect!
Lists
Previous Post

Update from DSLCC  

Next Post

Boy Scouts to build walking trail at Montwell Park

Next Post

Boy Scouts to build walking trail at Montwell Park

Sign up for our newsletter.

Enter your email address to receive weekly updates.

You will receive a confirmation email for your subscription. Please check your inbox and spam folder to complete the confirmation process.
Some fields are missing or incorrect!
Lists
ADVERTISEMENT
  • National News
  • WV State News
  • VA State News
  • Contact Us

© [year] Mountain Media News

  • Login
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
body::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 7px; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-track { border-radius: 10px; background: #f0f0f0; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { border-radius: 50px; background: #dfdbdb }
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Local News
    • Courthouse
      • Civil Suits
      • Deeds
      • Marriages
      • Public Meetings
      • Reunions
    • Club News
    • Education
    • Business News
    • Entertainment
    • Sports News
  • Spiritual
    • Parabola
    • Southern Baptist
    • Transcendental Meditation
    • Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
    • Church Bulletin
  • Obituaries
  • Columns
    • A Look Back
    • Back Down Country Roads
    • Dear Recycle Lady
    • Between The Lines
    • Letters to the Editor
  • eMessenger
  • Special Publications
    • Properties and Lifestyles
    • State Fair Guide
  • My Account
  • Login
  • FAQ

© [year] Mountain Media News