Senate Advances Bills On CPS, Contraception For Addicts, Nutrition

With just over 20 days remaining in the 2026 West Virginia Legislative session, the Senate advanced multiple bills on Wednesday that could have a big impact across the state.

Senate Bill 228 relates to the establishment of a pilot program in two West Virginia counties – to be determined – for the use of mobile devices by child protective service workers in child abuse and neglect investigations. The pilot program would begin in October 2027 and requires annual reporting to the legislature.

House Bill 4196, under consideration now in the Senate, would offer long-acting reversible contraception to patients receiving methadone and suboxone as part of a qualified, medication-assisted treatment program. The measure stipulates that contraceptives would be made available to both male and female patients, that they would be offered counseling and that participation could not be coerced.  

House Bill 4982, the Make West Virginia Healthy Again Act, relates to the federal government’s Rural Health Transformation program. 

Based on a legislative finding that nutrition-related chronic diseases are prevalent among Medicaid recipients and lead to increased health care costs, it creates the Office of Healthy Lifestyles within the state Department of Health, and allows Medicaid to participate in the federal government’s Food Is Medicine services – including allowing a prescription for produce.  

All three bills have moved to third reading.