Officials Remind Recipients Of Public Assistance To Check Their Benefits Status

During a Justice administration briefing, Ret. Maj. Gen. Jim Hoyer, director of the Joint Interagency COVID-19 Task Force, reminded West Virginians who receive state assistance to check the status of their benefits in light of the ending of the National Public Health Emergency.

“This does not mean that COVID is over,” Hoyer said. “But what this does mean is a change in certain policies and funding in response to the pandemic that may have an impact on certain people in the state of West Virginia. Particularly those related to Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP.”

Since April 2020, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has issued SNAP emergency allotments, increasing each household’s monthly benefit.

Now, those monthly SNAP benefits have returned to the pre-COVID-19 public health emergency level based on the household’s income, assets, household size, and other non-financial factors. About 170,000 households will be affected.

With the emergency set to end on May 11th, those affected individuals can go to www.wvpath.org or call 1-800-642-8589 to check their benefit status.

“The joint interagency task force has been assigned to work with the governor’s deputy chief of staff, to work with the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, FEMA, and the threat preparedness folks within the Department of Health and Human Resources and other agencies to make sure that close out is done correctly and in an expeditious manner,” Hoyer said. “So far facilities that have participated in these audits have received strong applause for their excellent record keeping and effective distribution of benefits. West Virginia is moving along just fine in those initial audits.”

Hoyer also noted the anniversary of the state’s vaccine calculator, noting that nearly one million calculations have been done using the online tool.

“It was the first of its kind in the nation and ours has become the national template,” Hoyer said. “And I believe we demonstrated that with this calculator, it is important that folks continue to pay attention and check the calculator.”

Hoyer also asked the public to keep up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, noting that 400 Americans still die each day due to COVID-19-related illness.