Today, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
(DHHR) Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch issued the following statement on SB 1013:
“The West Virginia
Department of Health and Human Resources touches the lives of every resident in
the state, from birth to death and all stages in between. Every budget cut to DHHR is tied to a child,
an adult, a senior or a family.
Senate Bill 1013 cuts
Medicaid by approximately $33 million in state funding, which results in a loss
of up to $150 million in federal matching dollars. The potential impact on Medicaid from this
cut by the Legislature is approximately $183 million.
The cuts to Medicaid
services include, but are not limited to, nursing home reimbursement for the
aged and disabled; intermediate care facilities for the developmentally
disabled; personal care services in the home for the severely disabled; medical
payments for those on the Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and
Aged and Disabled Waivers; lifesaving transplants for vulnerable children; hospice
services for the terminally ill; medical and behavioral health services for
foster children; services to pregnant women and newborn infants; services to
babies suffering from drug addiction due to drug use by their mothers; and substance
use disorder treatment for those addicted to opioids.
If SB 1013 is enacted, DHHR
will be forced to explore cutting payments to the medical providers, clinics
and hospitals across the board by approximately 7 percent, as well as the elimination
of optional services such as chiropractic, physical therapy, occupational
therapy, and hospice.
Since 2015, DHHR has
responsibly reduced spending by $181 million in state dollars in an effort to
right-size its budget.“