Tag: West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees

Completed Legislation Includes Treatment Bed Limits, Possible School District Consolidation And Retirees Back To Work 

A bill that limits the number of substance use treatment beds per West Virginia county is now headed to the governor for his signature. 

A bill that limits the number of substance use treatment beds per West Virginia county is now headed to the governor for his signature. 

House Bill 3337 passed the House after returning from the Senate amended. It limits the number of substance use disorder 28-day treatment beds to 250.  

At 288, Wood County has 26 percent of the state’s treatment beds. Thirty-nine counties have zero. Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said the limit is needed to counter an overwhelming influx of out-of-state patients who he says abuse a system meant for West Virginians.

“We are recruiting people from Idaho, Montana and Colorado. They’re coming to West Virginia, they are coming to Parkersburg. They’re coming to take those beds,” Criss said. “If they took their treatments, and did what they said they were going to do to get better, that’s all fine and well, and they become productive citizens again. But they didn’t do that. They got into the program, they quit the program and became problems for the city of Parkersburg and for the county of Wood.”

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, was one of several who opposed the bill. Pushkin said treatment bed numbers should be based on a county’s need – not an artificial number.

“At some point that might be more than 250 in some counties, but a lot of counties, that won’t be 250. But when you cap it, once again, you’re increasing the value of the license and those licenses will be sold,” Pushkin said. “I think that there are a lot of issues the state’s facing – whether it’s homelessness, petty crime. I personally think that, that will go on if you have less treatment options.”

The bill passed 76 to 19 and is effective from passage; it goes to the governor’s desk for a signature.

The House also passed Senate Bill 99, which establishes procedures for potential consolidation of school districts. Legislators raised concerns about the possible loss of employment, and severance pay with potential consolidation. Neither issue was addressed in the bill.

And they passed House Bill 2917, which allows retired state employees who meet the minimum qualifications necessary to go back to work for the Department of Health and Human Resources. The department faces continued employee recruitment challenges and several state departments are working to bring back retirees. 

School Retirees Oppose Potential Medicare Advantage Cuts

Members of the West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees are concerned about potential cuts to Medicare Advantage at the federal level.

Members of the West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees are concerned about potential cuts to Medicare Advantage at the federal level.

The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may cut Medicare Advantage payments by an average of 2.27 percent in 2024, according to a study done by healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health of an advance notice released by the CMS last month. 

The agency itself, as well as federal officials like Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, pushed back against the claims and are projecting a 1 percent increase in payments instead. 

Medicare Advantage, also known as the Part C plan, is offered by private companies to offer the same benefits as Medicare Parts A and B for lower monthly premiums, though that potentially also comes with higher out-of-pocket expenses.

Charmell Radcliff, president of the West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees, is concerned the potential cuts could result in fewer benefits and higher premiums for retirees. More than 192,000 people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage statewide.

“As a senior citizen on a fixed income, an estimated raise in premiums and a decrease in benefits would cost each one enrolled in the (Medicare Advantage) plan $45 a month, or $540 a year,” Radcliff said.

The association has reached out to those in the Biden administration urging them to protect the plan from cuts, including sending a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. 

A bipartisan group of 61 United States Senators have also expressed the same concerns in a letter to the CMS, including West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

“With 53 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees living on less than $25,000 per year, combined with increasing pressures on Americans’ budgets, it is critical that older adults and individuals with disabilities continue to have stable access to these cost protections that are only available in Medicare Advantage,” their letter read.

The pushback comes at the same time unions, like the AFL-CIO, are opposing state Senate Bill 268, which would try to address the insolvency of the state’s Public Employees Insurance Agency by increasing health insurance premiums for those enrolled and removing spouses eligible for their own insurance from coverage. It passed the Senate Thursday and is currently in the House of Delegates.

Final rate payment changes for 2024 are scheduled to be announced by the CMS in April.

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