West Virginia Legislature Approves Bill To Expand Health Care Access

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 17 Mar 2006 - 22:00 PDT

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The West Virginia House and Senate on Saturday each unanimously approved a bill (HB 4021) that aims to increase health insurance access and affordability for the state's uninsured population, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports. The bill includes a series of proposals, including Gov. Joe Manchin's (D) pilot program that would establish clinic-based primary care services for an undetermined prepaid fee. The West Virginia Health Care Authority would oversee the program and select eight providers to implement it. Providers would be allowed to offer the program at three sites, Delegate Don Perdue (D) said. The program will last for three years, beginning no later than July 1, 2007. Perdue said the bill would expand state SCHIP program eligibility from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level, increasing the program's enrollment eligibility by up to 4,300 children and leaving only about 800 children in the state without insurance. Perdue said, "It's our goal over the next year to find out why those 800 children don't have health care and how we can bring them in" (Chambers, Huntington Herald-Dispatch, 3/12). The bill also includes Manchin's proposal for a "no-frills" insurance plan that would have "an emphasis on preventive and primary care," the AP/Charleston Daily Mail reports. The bill would generally limit eligibility to people who have had no health insurance for at least 12 months, to prevent individuals from dropping other coverage to receive the no-frills plan. The Insurance Commissioner's Office would oversee the program and approve insurance companies' proposals to offer coverage. In addition, the bill would require the state Department of Health and Human Resources to make quarterly reports to a legislative committee on the Medicaid claims processing system. The bill also would create an Interagency Health Council to study and oversee plans to move the state toward universal health coverage (Bundy, AP/Charleston Daily Mail, 3/10).

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