skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

West Virginians Hit by Coronavirus Job Loss Could Gain Medicaid

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 27, 2020   

CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- Some West Virginians may not be aware that if they've lost their jobs and employer-provided health insurance due to COVID-19, they could be eligible for coverage under the state's Medicaid expansion.

A family of four making less than about $3,000 a month can qualify for Medicaid in West Virginia, which now provides health insurance for about one in three residents, according to Jessie Ice, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. She said if you're collecting unemployment benefits, the federal portion of $600 a week doesn't count towards household income for Medicaid eligibility.

"A lot of folks don't know what they qualify for, so they're not looking to get coverage," she said. "The COVID crisis has highlighted for a lot of people that there are options out there."

She said people can find out if they qualify online, on the West Virginia Navigator website, and that on the state government's web portal, wvpath.org, they can find out about other forms of support, such as SNAP food assistance.

A report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families shows the number of uninsured children in West Virginia increased 44% between 2016 and 2018. Ice attributed the rise to the widespread use of opioids that has seen many children enter the foster-care system when their parents can't take care of them.

"So, we think there are some things about re-enrollment, due in a large part to the opioid crisis and unstable family households, that probably plays a pretty big role in it," she said.

Ice said that West Virginia kids have benefited from Medicaid expansion, and only about 3.5% of them are uninsured. But that number is expected to rise, as the state's unemployment rate skyrocketed from 5% to 15% during the coronavirus crisis.

The Georgetown report is online at ccf.georgetown.edu, and the West Virginia children's health care report card is at kidshealthcarereport.ccf.georgetown.edu.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…


Data show Oak Ridge residents pay $2.67 million in taxes toward nuclear weapons programs. (fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

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