Medicaid

A new task force will track health care crimes in West Virginia.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Bill Powell announced the task force's creation in a news release Friday. The Health Care Crimes Task Force will investigate prosecute illegal activities like fraud and opioid diversion.

The West Virginia Senate has adopted a resolution that says the state constitution grants no right to an abortion or the funding of the procedure.

A bill that would remove Medicaid funding for medically necessary abortions has been drawing a lot of attention in the House since passing through that chamber’s Health Committee last week. While the issue is inherently divisive, many questions about House Bill 4012’s constitutionality have been raised -- further drawing attention to the matter.

A West Virginia Hospital Association official says the state's hospitals stand to lose up to $15 million toward treating low-income patients if federal cuts to a Medicaid program remain in place.

West Virginia Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch says $160 million in savings from the state's Medicaid program will be applied to other programs.

State health officials say they have received federal approval to expand addiction treatment for West Virginians covered by Medicaid.

The waiver from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was requested to improve care and outcomes by expanding services for those diagnosed with a substance use disorder.

West Virginia University plans to host what it's calling a summit meeting on health care policy for children on Thursday.

Scheduled speakers include former U. S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV and former U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary and now American University President Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

Both of West Virginia’s U.S. Senators have now announced their opposition to a federal healthcare bill that could result in the loss of healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. 

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito announced Tuesday afternoon in a press release she is a no vote on the bill. The statement came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced earlier in the day he would delay a vote of the full Senate until after the 4th of July holiday.

Two major non-partisan research groups released a study this week about the impact of Medicaid on children, families and communities in small-town, rural America.

“For the country as a whole we found that the role of Medicaid and CHIP in reducing the rate of insurance for kids and adults is even more important in rural areas and small towns,” said Joan Alker during a press conference at Riverside High School in Belle. “It’s disproportionately important to these communities.”

A research group that examines how government policies affect low-income Americans says the latest proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act will particularly hurt rural communities including those in West Virginia.

The Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the House-passed replacement for "Obamacare" would effectively end its Medicaid expansion under which 76,900 rural West Virginians gained medical coverage. The program is almost entirely federally funded.

If lawmakers don't approve Gov. Jim Justice’s proposal to increase taxes, representatives of the state's Department of Health and Human Resources says they will be forced to cut funding to programs. Bill Crouch is the new Department of Health and Human Resources Cabinet Secretary, says some programs, like the Aged and Disabled Waiver Program, might be eliminated entirely.

More than 22,000 West Virginians with substance use disorders have gained health coverage through Medicaid Expansion, according to a report released earlier this month in National Health Law Program. Medicaid Expansion was a voluntary provision of the Affordable Care Act.

What were the top stories in West Virginia from 2016? We searched our archives from the past year and compiled this list of the most popular stories.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell visited Charleston today to voice support for the Affordable Care Act.

Federal health Secretary Sylvia Burwell plans to join a discussion in her native West Virginia on the federal health law that expanded insurance coverage to 165,000 residents.

The Affordable Care Act is a signature Obama administration initiative that president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to at least partly roll back.

West Virginia's newly re-elected Attorney General Patrick Morrisey plans to target Medicaid fraud in his second term and ask the Legislature to give his office more authority to crack down.

Morrisey, who promises this second term will be his last as the state's top lawyer, says he's has had success investigating fraudulent disability claims, saving $1.4 million so far.

Penny Hart is a single mother of two. She works full-time as a receptionist and hygienist in a small, rural dental practice.

Except for during her pregnancies, Hart lacked insurance for her entire adult life, which has made dealing with debilitating migraines particularly difficult. Imitrex – the migraine medication she takes – runs about $39 a 25 mg tablet for the brand name and about $24 for the generic.