Amelia Knisely, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Social Security Benefits Will Increase in 2023

Citing record high inflation and higher food costs, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday an 8.7 percent increase in benefits set to begin in 2023.

Citing record high inflation and higher food costs, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday an 8.7 percent increase in benefits.

In West Virginia, nearly half a million social security recipients will see about $145 added to their benefits starting in January 2023.

This is the largest one-time increase since 1981.

Gaylene Miller, state director of AARP WV, said the announcement was “welcome news” for the state’s social security recipients. The average monthly social security benefit is $1,500 in the state, she said.

“Inflation has hit everyone hard, but people who are on a fixed income, particularly that rely solely on social security, are really having a hard time making ends meet and being able to pay rising utility costs, rising price of groceries and rising cost of prescription costs,” Miller said.

About one fourth of the state’s social security recipients 65 and older rely almost entirely on their benefits, according to Miller.

She also noted that social security recipients use their benefits to inject $7.9 billion into the state’s economy every year.

The announcement comes on the heels of news that Medicare Part B premiums will drop 3 percent next year.

Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, said the changes “will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room.”

“This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned,” Kijakazi said in a news release.

State Launches Online Chat For Parents Seeking Child Mental Health Support

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources launched a new online resource to help parents and caregivers confidentially seek mental health support for their children.

There has been an uptick in child mental health issues spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report showed nationwide, from 2016 to 2021, youth mental health inpatient admissions rose 61 percent and emergency department visits rose 20 percent.

DHHR’s Kids Thrive Collaborative is hosting weekly and free online chats where participants can privately ask questions about mental and behavioral health resources and what it looks like to navigate that process. The chats, which will run through the fall, are every Tuesday at 12 p.m.

“We had learned that parents really didn’t know about different resources that our state had to offer, and there are also the misconceptions that everything led to CPS and law enforcement when it came to accessing services,” said Marilyn Pierce, DHHR assistant to the cabinet secretary for Children Programs. Pierce oversees the online information sessions.

The virtual sessions are part of DHHR’s ongoing investment in community-based services. Following a 2014 investigation by the Department of Justice into the state’s handling of kids with serious mental health issues, DHHR is required to expand community-based mental health services and reduce the number of children in residential mental health treatment facilities.

Registration for the virtual information sessions is available here.

W.Va.'s COVID-19 Hospitalization Rate Declining

While deaths associated with COVID-19 continue to be reported in West Virginia, the state’s hospitalization rate is declining.

State health leaders are urging residents to get the newest COVID-19 booster shot and a flu shot ahead of winter. New research indicates an expected bump in COVID-19 cases this fall during cooler weather.

While deaths associated with COVID-19 continue to be reported in West Virginia, the state’s hospitalization rate is declining.

”We’re down to 190 cases that are hospitalized in West Virginia – 29 in the ICU and 13 on ventilators,” Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday in a virtual press conference. “And, you can see more of our state is in green and that’s good.”

One month ago, the state health department reported 300 hospitalizations, bringing the state much closer to the predetermined statewide capacity of 500 coronavirus hospitalizations.

Justice also reported 7,445 West Virginia residents have now died from the virus.

There are 968 active COVID-19 cases in the state.

SNAP Work Requirement Could Stress Food Charities

Impending changes to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will put a work requirement in place for some West Virginia residents who rely on the program to buy groceries.

About 168,000 low-income households in West Virginia use SNAP, and the state is fourth in the nation for residents using emergency food assistance.

SNAP is a federal program and states have discretion over how they run it. The impending changes in West Virginia are due to a 2018 state law that set a work requirement that requires able-bodied adults without dependents to work 20 hours a week to receive benefits. Lawmakers said the overhaul to SNAP was to combat program fraud.

The law gave counties the ability to waive that work requirement, including rural counties with limited jobs, but under the legislation that expired Oct. 1 of this year.

The current federal health emergency under COVID-19 bans states from cutting off emergency benefits like SNAP.

But once President Joe Biden expires the federal COVID/pandemic emergency order, the work requirement goes into effect for all 55 counties regardless of their job or poverty rates.

Right now, the work requirement will impact around 24,000 SNAP recipients around the state, according to West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources data. Thousands of SNAP recipients will be unenrolled from benefits if they’re unable to prove they’re working the required hours.

Cyndi Kirkhart, director of Facing Hunger Food Bank in Huntington, said the impending change will drive more people to already-struggling food charities. The food bank is currently serving 25 percent more people than it was pre-pandemic.

“Many of the part-time positions that are available for folks, they aren’t guaranteed hours, so folks will really be concerned about meeting those minimums,” Kirkhart said. “Historically, we’ve seen people have to work more than one part-time job so that their benefits would be maintained.”

Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, introduced legislation last session to allow counties to continue waiving the work requirement. The bill didn’t make it into committee for discussion.

While Clements said that he wants to see people that receive benefits working, he understands that it’s not an option for all state residents who rely on SNAP.

“We often have other restrictions that can prohibit it from happening. While they don’t have dependents, they may have to take care of someone like an elderly parent or something,” he said. “To just arbitrarily say, ‘No county is eligible for this thing,’ I think is not necessarily good.”

Clements plans to reintroduce the legislation in the 2023 session that would allow counties to waive the work requirement.

State Rolls Out Minivan Fleet To Help Rural Seniors Get Around

The West Virginia Department of Transportation announced Monday that six agencies serving seniors around the state will receive handicapped-accessible minivans.

Seniors in some of the state’s rural areas will soon have more transportation options.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation announced Monday that six agencies serving seniors around the state will receive handicapped-accessible minivans.

The vans, which will be able to pick up riders at their homes, will each hold one wheelchair and three passengers.

The state’s Division of Public Transit procured the vehicles through the federal 5310 Program, which is designed to enhance mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities.

Local community groups receiving a minivan are required to contribute a 20 percent match of the $64,000 cost of each vehicle, according to the WVDOT press release.

“Unfortunately, some folks don’t have people to take them places. They need to go to the grocery store. They need to go to their doctor. They need to get their medications,” said John Caldwell, a procurement officer with the Division of Public Transportation. “The 5310 Program helps them with that.”

Local agencies receiving the minivans include:

Central West Virginia Community Action
Family Service – Upper Ohio Valley
Pocahontas County Senior Citizens
Kanawha Valley Senior Services
Braxton County Senior Citizens Center
Council of Senior Tyler Countians

Several of the communities receiving the minivans don’t have access to public transportation or ride-sharing services.

Health Officials Advocate For COVID-19 Booster Ahead Of Cooler Weather

State coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said Thursday that the United Kingdom, which is several weeks ahead of West Virginia with cooler weather, has seen a 17 percent increase in hospitalizations in recent weeks.

West Virginia health leaders fear COVID-19 cases could jump as cold weather settles in.

Marsh cautioned that the spike wasn’t because of the two newer omicron subvariants.

“It’s really because they’re seeing waning immunity because not enough of their citizens have been vaccinated with the newest booster shot,” Marsh said during the governor’s virtual COVID-19 press briefing. “And, also because people are not taking the same precautions.”

Marsh urged West Virginia residents to get the newest COVID-19 booster shot. Nationwide, fewer than two percent of people have received the newest booster shot, he noted.

While the state’s current COVID-19 case numbers have declined, deaths linked to the virus continue to be reported.

State health leaders are also urging residents to get their flu vaccinations.

More information on COVID-19 boosters is available here.