Tag: Health & Science

Need help navigating the health care exchange?

The number of uninsured West Virginians is expected to drop by 70 percent in the next three years. That’s according to numbers from the state Insurance Commissioners Office and presented by West Virginians for Affordable Health Care in the wake of open enrollment under the health care exchange.

The non-profit group is working with organizations around the state to help West Virginians navigate that new exchange and sign up for insurance.

WVAHC Executive Director Perry Bryant said so many Americans have become interested in signing up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s central facet that the federal website crashed Tuesday morning and there was a wait time of up to 15 minutes for the federal call center.

 He said in order to help with the influx, some West Virginia groups have created their own websites to assist consumers looking to buy health insurance or qualifiers sign up for Medicaid in the hopes that they can impact the state’s overall health in the future.

 “It is a new day. It is a new era and one in which we are going to take a significant step towards providing quality, affordable health care in West Virginia and I’m proud to be a part of that effort,” Perry said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

To enroll or find assistance in navigating the health care exchange, visit one of the following sites:
www.healthcare.gov
www.localhelp.healthcare.gov
www.goenrollWV.org

Or call:
Federal Call Center 1-800-318-2596
WV Primary Care Association 1-877-WVA-HLTH

To report any possible fraud or scams related to ACA, contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-363-8808.

Health care exchange begins enrollment in W.Va.

West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources has been working for months to organize their federal-state partnered health insurance exchange beginning enrollment on October 1.

Likened to the travel website Expedia, the exchange will allow consumers to go online, compare plans from private insurance providers and choose the one that’s best for them, but the site will also determine your eligibility for coverage on state programs like Medicaid.
For the state of West Virginia, the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act meant new requirements, like establishing a health care exchange, but for consumers, Assistant Secretary for the state Department of Health and Human Resources Jeremiah Samples said the ACA means options. Options for insurance coverage and providers.

Those options, however, aren’t as abundant here as in many other states.  

As West Virginians begin to navigate the healthcare exchange looking for insurance to cover themselves and their families, the plans they have to choose from will all come from one provider: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.

“Private insurance companies made the decision to not proceed with offering coverage on the exchange and there’s a number of reasons for that. Our market is not very large so it’s not as attractive to many insurance companies, and there’s also challenges to the paradigm shift from the health insurance laws,” Samples said. 

“That exposes insurance companies to risks that they’ve never had to deal with before and so there are a lot of challenges there that many insurance companies felt they were not in a position to precede.”

Samples said even though there is only one private insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield will still provide a variety of plan options at different cost levels.  

But some West Virginians will take a different path to coverage. Samples estimated more than 130,000 West Virginians will find through the exchange they are eligible for Medicaid. 

The DHHR sent out eligibility letters to more than 118,00 of those West Virginians to allow them to enroll by simply checking a box to agree to the program and then mailing the form back in to the state.

“We already have about 45,000 folks that have sent those letters in,” Samples said. “That’s 45,000 people that didn’t have insurance before, 45,000 people that will not be coming in to the county office bogging down the systems using our resources. It will also be the most streamlined process by which that consumer can go through to have their eligibility determined.”

Those individuals became eligible for coverage when Governor Tomblin announced Medicaid’s expansion in May, covering individuals earning between 17 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Many of those are SNAP, more commonly known as food stamp, participants and parents whose children were already covered through the state.

But if you’re still not sure where you fall, whether you are eligible for Medicaid, or want to find an insurance plan to fit your budget, Samples said the process starts online at healthcare.gov, with a phone call to the federal call center, through a private insurance agent, or at your local DHHR county office.

“Each DHHR office will have an in-person assistor embedded into it. An in-person assistor will be trained on how to provide consumers information about private health insurance,” Samples said. “So, for example, if a consumer wants to know, what is a co-pay? What is co-insurance? What do these terms mean to me? Than that in-person assistor will be able to provide them with some support as they go through the exchange.”

Open enrollment through the health care exchange begins October 1 and ends March 31. Health insurance bought through the exchange goes into effect January 1.  

The website to enroll is www.healthcare.gov.

Miners, know your rights

A mine safety law that’s been on the books since 1977 was intended to give miners the ability to report problems without retribution. This is a law that’s…

A mine safety law that’s been on the books since 1977 was intended to give miners the ability to report problems without retribution. This is a law that’s rarely been used and often when it has  managers and not working miners serve as the representatives.

A number of issues were uncovered during congressional hearings after the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 men. Statements from miners and family members of the miners who died indicated that mine employees had been reluctant to speak out about safety conditions in existence prior to the April 2010 explosion, fearing retaliation by management.

Former and current miners admitted they knew nothing about their right to elect a representative of miners either.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is hoping to raise more awareness with a handbook and online resource page called The Miners’ Representative Guide.

A miners’ representative is any person, group or organization designated by two or more miners to represent their interest during health and safety enforcement processes at their mine.

This includes managers and supervisors.

Longtime safety advocate Tony Oppegard pointed out during an interview in April 2012  that managers already have the right to travel with inspectors. He says congress needs to take the next step and insist MSHA  make a policy managers can’t serve as miners’ reps.

“Because it defeats the entire purpose of the miners’ rep provision,” Oppegard said, “and frankly you don’t have management looking out for the safety of miners.”

Oppegard argues that electing managers as miner’s reps can prevent the law from working the way should.

Miners were given a right to elect a representative in 1977 when the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act was enacted.

The new MSHA guide provides detailed information about: reporting hazardous conditions and imminent dangers, accident investigations, understanding the elements of discrimination, health and safety training,  rights to information and records and more.  

In a news  release MSHA says in 2012 it filed more than double the requests for temporary re-instatement on behalf of miners who submitted complaints of discrimination after being fired, than any previous year.

Will West Virginia Legalize Medical Marijuana?

After three failed attempts to get a bill passed that would make marijuana available to those who would benefit from its medicinal properties, Del. Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor) continues to press on. With three republicans cosponsoring his bill this past session, a public hearing on the issue late in the Regular Session, and a successful resolution to study the issue sponsored by House Health Committee Chair Don Perdue (D-Wayne), Manypenny and other advocates appear to be gaining some traction on the issue.

Members of both legislative houses met Wednesday for a hearing with the Joint Committee on Health to learn more.

The committee began with a presentation via Skype from Karmen Hanson in Denver of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hanson pointed out that 20 states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

However, the drug remains outlawed on the federal level and is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Food & Drug Administration, which means it’s seen as having a high potential for abuse with no medical purpose.

The floor was then turned over to Marijuana Policy Project Legislative Analyst, Matt Simon, a Parkersburg native who holds a master’s degree from WVU currently living in New Hampshire.

“To be clear, what patients are asking for with a state-level medical marijuana law is, really, two things,” said Simon.  “They want to be protected from arrest if their doctors have recommended that they use this substance and they want to have a way to access it safely and legally.”

Simon pointed to states like California and Montana where limited regulations allow for too much access and create as many problems as they solve. He said Maine’s laws might provide a better model worth consideration.

Amongst other criticisms, Simon attempted to quell concerns that the passing of a medical marijuana law might increase use of the drug among young people. He said 15 states can provide before and after research on medical marijuana legislation where use by young people has remained the same or even dropped.

He also talked about another sticking point that often gums up legislation: the potential state revenue marijuana sales could garner.

“Some state medical marijuana programs do bring in significant revenue,” said Simon. “Others are revenue neutral. Many are written to be revenue neutral; fees are set to cover the cost of administering the program so that taxpayers will not bear the burden.

“And a few states were primarily concerned with patients and were not concerned with revenue at all, so they actually operate at a loss to those programs.”

Simon also pointed to a Pew Research study from March that shows an upswing in Americans that favor full on legalization of the drug. In fact, the study suggests that 52% of Americans are in support of legalization. He attributes these results to an increase in states with medical marijuana laws and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement of a change in the policy of enforcing marijuana related crimes.

Regarding the new change in policy with the Department of Justice, Joint Committee on Health Minority Chair Del. Ellington (R-Mercer) asked whether a a change Administrations on the federal level might change the DOJ’s approach to enforcing related laws.

Hanson responded with: “No one can predict the future.”

The committee finished the hearing by watching an excerpt of a video released in August from CNN and Dr. Sanjay Gupta titled Weed that details the benefits an epileptic child received from the drug as well as research being conducted in Israel.

Perdue, who also chairs the Joint Committee on Health, called Gupta’s report and some of the information provided during the meeting “compelling” but said major hurdles remain in dealing with medical marijuana legislation.

“How do you get away from the fact that—and I do believe that—marijuana is a gateway drug? Well, so are a lot of other medicinals,” said Perdue. “So, again, if you view it only for its medicinal value that’s not a hurdle you should have to overcome. Yet it’s going to be back there. That’s the thought process.

“That’s kind of the synchronization of the people who oppose marijuana. I understand that. But, in the understanding that, the discussion has to be framed in terms of medicinal value. Not in terms of recreational use or what might or what could happen.”

As for Manypenny, he’s working now on building provisions into a new version of this past session’s bill.  

“One of the things that is proposed in my bill is that the taxes generated, after the cost of regulating the industry, would go to treating substance abuse in the community and drug prevention programs in the schools,” he said.

“If there’s enough money generated, then, a percentage of that will go to build a veteran’s nursing home in the southern part of the state,” Manypenny added.

Despite past and planned efforts on the issue, no specific legislation that would allow the medicinal use of the drug in West Virginia was discussed during the hearing. Manypenny hopes to firm up potential legislation during interims in December and have it ready for introduction at the beginning of the 2014 Regular Session.

DHHR Secretary stays focused on filling 600+ vacancies

In her first appearance before legislators, Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen Bowling said the department is not yet prepared to release a detailed response to a performance review completed earlier this year. Instead, she shared some generalizations about major issues the department is trying to address. The biggest of those issues is hiring and retaining the necessary personnel to run the state’s largest agency.

Called a fragmented department with duplicative programs seeing little results and a lack of a strategic goal-setting vision, the performance review released in April of the Department of Health and Human Resources was less than positive.

Completed by Pennsylvania-based consulting firm Public Works, the report is still in review by the DHHR and its new secretary, Karen Bowling.

On the job since July 1, Bowling admitted she’s still trying to digest the 116 pages, but was called on by the Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Resources Accountability for an update during interim meetings at the Capitol.

“I’m not sure that we would ever have enough hours to present 78 recommendations, but I think just the idea of just some of the most important points in that Public Works report,” Bowling said Monday, “I wanted to make sure I emphasized those and talked about those so everyone could understand the direction in which we were going.”

But moving any direction is proving to be a slow process for the state’s largest agency.

With more than 630 vacancies, Bowling said one of the department’s top priorities is trying to fill those positions. Public Works accounted those vacancies to an “unstable work environment,” which lead to a turnover rate of 30 percent and an additional $7 million in mandatory overtime pay last year.

“Part of the turnover rate and part of the vacancy rate and part of the overtime issues are not being able to fill the jobs quick enough. Part of it is getting qualified people into the jobs fast enough and getting them oriented and ready to go,” Bowling said.

“We, the DHHR, will have to work with other areas to make sure that we change the process to the extent that we can so we can move quicker on filling vacancies.”

So to address the problem, Bowling said the DHHR is beginning to work with the Department of Personnel and the Department of Administration to try to streamline the hiring process.

Senator Ron Stollings, the committee co-chair, said that high turnover rate comes down to those on the front lines—social workers in child protective services or other areas—being overworked and under paid.

“Unfortunately, we probably don’t pay these front line workers competitive salaries and we haven’t hired,” Stollings said. “There are so many vacancies so the ones that are working are working so hard and I’d say there’s a very early burn out. So when there’s something better that comes along in a private arena they leave.”

Aside from streamlining the hiring process, Bowling said they’re looking at other factors like mentor systems and managerial training to create a better work environment and reduce the turnover rate.

On other issues, however, Bowling responded with broader answers. She said the department isn’t prepared to talk specifics for many of the areas of the complex review until they complete an internal self-study.

That answer seemed to be acceptable for the committee and Bowling will return in December to present more concrete, specific examples of how the department is making changes.

There was one question, however, Bowling was prepared to take a stance on. A position brought up by Delegate Don Perdue, who serves as co-chair of the committee, to break the DHHR into separate entities, one dealing with human services, the other with Medicaid.

“That was one of two suggestions that have been made periodically over the last 16 years that I know of. Each time, each time the Department has said, no, we don’t want to cut it a part into health and human resources, we don’t want to take out Medicaid, we don’t want to do anything like that,” Perdue said during the meeting, “and yet, Madame Secretary, our statistics are not changing. They’re getting worse.”

“I am really concerned that if we continue to gather all these chicks into one nest, they are going to be some that suffer and that’s what’s happening now in my belief. I hope you can prove me wrong.”

Bowling said she believes she can. She stood behind her predecessors, but said the DHHR can be more successful than it is today under her leadership in the future. The Secretary said she can help the department achieve the outcomes Perdue wants to see.

“My belief is that actually further integration and breaking down silos. You know, bureaus can get stuck in silos and I think breaking those down will actually improve efficiencies and will give us a greater opportunity to make positive change in the state,” she said.

“My job will be to show statistically that I can make that happen through leadership and maybe through some changes in organizational structure and management and then maybe Chairman Perdue will see that change in years to come and agree with me.”

Most of those changes Bowling believes can be made internally without much legislative action needed, but Stollings said he stands firmly behind the department and is prepared to support any legislative action that may be necessary to help turn the DHHR around.

Still a Beautiful Mind – and an Inspiring West Virginian

Editor’s note: Nobel-prize winning mathematician John Nash and his wife were killed in a traffic accident May 23, 2015. This profile from 2013 is part of our series, “Inspiring West Virginians.”

The 9th floor of Fine Hall, the math building at Princeton University, is a place some people call the mathematical center of the universe. 

Here you’ll find the office of 84-year-old John Forbes Nash, Jr., one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. 

One whole bookshelf in Nash’s office is lined with photos of his hometown, Bluefield, West Virginia. Nash left the state more than 60 years ago, but clearly it’s still important to him.

“This is my high school in Bluefield,” he said, sharing the picture of his 50th high school class reunion. “I’m in the corner here.”

Over his lifetime, Nash has sought and solved some of mathematics’ most difficult problems, in ways that have amazed other mathematicians, all while overcoming great trials.    

In 2001 Ron Howard made a film about Nash called “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russell Crowe.  It won the Oscar for Best Picture. The film and the book on which the film is based tell the story of Nash’s meteoric rise in the mathematical world, his early career teaching at MIT, his sudden descent into severe mental illness, and his ultimate recovery. 

John Nash’s story begins in Mercer County.

“My mother had been born there, and she had sisters,” Nash explained. “I had only one sibling – my sister – and that’s a special relationship.” 

Martha Nash Legg remembers Bluefield as a lovely place to grow up, and she describes her brother as studious.

“I guess today we’d call him nerdy!” she said. “His friends were also bright. He liked science fiction.”

“And he was musical. He is musical – to the extent that he can whistle Bach!” laughed Legg.

Nash says he was quite aware that he wasn’t close to people other than relatives.

“I guess I’m a little like an Asperger’s type,” he said. “I didn’t have very strong friendship relations generally.  I wasn’t just a buddy of the group.” 

Even as a little boy, Johnny, as his family called him, was drawn to mathematics.

“I did have a taste for numbers. In school I liked to work with larger numbers than we were taught to use, 5 digits rather than 2 or 3,” Nash remembered. 

He points to Men of Mathematics, by E.T. Bell as a book he read as a child that really influenced him.

“He’s an American,” said Nash. “The book was inspiring in the way it talked about the mathematical discoveries and what these people had done.”

Nash was particularly intrigued by the 17th Century French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat.  As a 14-year-old, Nash succeeded in proving Fermat’s Theorem. 

After high school he went to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh. In just three years he earned a bachelors and masters in mathematics.  One of his teachers recognized Nash was a mathematical genius, and encouraged him to go to Princeton University for a PhD.  

At Princeton Nash’s dissertation was in a field called game theory. At the time it was a relatively new concept that explains human behavior.  

His main contribution to game theory – which later became known as the Nash Equilibrium – has been used in a wide variety of fields, from economics, to foreign policy, information technology, and evolutionary biology.

Nash also solved a few very, very difficult problems in pure mathematics.

And he did it in a way that still inspires young mathematicians, including Dejan Slepčev, associate professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

“Nash’s papers are very brief and have many ideas in them,” said Slepčev. “It’s not just one idea that solves everything but at every step there is a new idea and yet there is the whole picture of how everything fits together.”  

“So that is the beauty of the thing,” he said. “So if you speak about the beautiful mind, then it must be the mind which is able to store so many new ideas together at the same time.”

At the height of this brilliant young mathematician’s career, John Nash developed paranoid schizophrenia, a severe mental illness.

For more than 25 years he had delusions about who he was, who other people were and messages he believed he was receiving.

He wandered the campus of Princeton University, writing on blackboards and whistling Bach to himself.  He became known as “The Phantom of Fine Hall.”

And then, without medication, he started to get better. 

One morning in 1994, a few years after Nash returned to what he calls rational thinking, Legg says an amazing thing happened.

“The radio was on in the bedroom.  And I heard them say something about a Nobel Prize Award in Economics, and I thought they said, ‘John Nash in game theory,’” Legg recalled.

“And it brought tears to my eyes thinking how much my parents would have loved to have heard that.” 

The Nobel Prize changed John Nash’s life.  Princeton University gave him a job, and he received further awards and honors.

The man who was almost forgotten was invited to lecture at universities throughout the world. 

Today Nash continues to tackle difficult problems in mathematics and economics at Princeton University. 

“Well, it’s not unusual to work to 70, maybe 75, but now I’m 84. I could go to 90!” 

John Nash, who rarely gives interviews, is featured with others in the West Virginia Public Radio documentary Inspiring West Virginians, produced by Jean Snedegar with Senior Producer Suzanne Higgins.

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