skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Analyst: WV Saves a Bundle Under House Health Care Reform

play audio
Play

Monday, December 7, 2009   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Health care reform plans as passed in the U.S. House of Representatives would, in one part, expand the government medical care program for the poor to cover those making up to 150 percent of the poverty level - high enough to include a family of four with an annual income of $33,000. An analysis of the implications for West Virginia says that would cover forty percent of the state's uninsured. It would eventually cost the state more, but would also save many times as much.

Congresswoman Shelly Caputo - who voted against the bill - has asked how much more the cost would be. According to policy analyst Paul Miller with the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, it's a very good deal, $40 million starting in the third year.

"In the first two years the state's share would actually be zero. Beginning in year 2015, the state cost would be $40 million."

Miller says the federal government would have to pay most of the cost of expanding Medicaid. But he says their analysis predicts all West Virginia taxpayers and consumers would save about twice the amount of state and federal costs, because of better efficiency and more preventive care.

"By the end of the program in 2019, the net return on investment would actually increase to $789 million."

Miller says cost to West Virginia would increase with inflation each year after 2015. But he points out that the state as a whole would save many times that amount in reduced charity and uncompensated care, as well as lower premiums for individuals and families.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021