Recent editorials from West Virginia newspapers:
Oct. 16
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph on the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office taking control of the unit that fights Medicaid fraud in the state:
After months of planning, control of a unit that fights Medicaid fraud in West Virginia has been transferred from the Department of Health and Human Resources to the state attorney general’s office.
The change took effect earlier this month. Legislation calling for the transfer of the fraud unit was approved by lawmakers earlier this year. The hope is to strengthen West Virginia’s fight against fraud, waste and abuse.
The change will bring West Virginia in line with more than 40 other states, according to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
“There has been a tremendous amount of hard work on behalf of taxpayers to make for a smooth transition,” Morrisey said. “Our goal is to ensure the unit continues its excellent work and to enhance its ability to root out even more fraud, waste and abuse in hopes that we can solidify the Medicaid program for those who legitimately rely upon it as a safety net.”
To help ensure a smooth transition, technology improvements have been made, along with an increase in the state’s federal grant and security enhancements to bolster the unit’s protection of sensitive data, Morrisey’s office said.
Many of those who supported moving the unit cited the Attorney General’s success in fighting Social Security disability fraud. That unit has generated more than $18.5 million since its inception in West Virginia several years ago.
Given Morrisey’s success in fighting Social Security disability fraud, moving the Medicaid fraud unit to the attorney general’s office was a logical move.
The unlawful taking of Medicaid benefits wastes tax dollars, deepens deficits and jeopardizes a program designed to help those most in need, points correctly noted earlier this year by Morrisey.
It is our hope that the transfer of the Medicaid fraud unit will help in weeding out those who are claiming Medicaid benefits in West Virginia of which they are not legally entitled to.
Online: https://www.bdtonline.com/
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Oct. 14
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel on the low labor force participation rate in West Virginia, compared to the rest of the country:
Our state’s economy has “a lot of uncertainty,” West Virginia University economist John Deskins noted during an economic outlook conference last week in Charleston.
Deskins, director of WVU’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, explained, among other things, the uncertainty relates to coal and natural gas jobs.
But one thing about West Virginia’s economy has been certain for decades: Our labor force participation rate will be among the lowest, often the worst, in the nation.
At last count, only 54.9 percent of West Virginians were employed. No other state comes close; No. 2 is Mississippi, at 55.8 percent. The national rate is 63.2 percent.
If there is any good news, it is that labor force participation rate has been increasing steadily since February 2015 - but, again, we remain the worst in the United States. The highest rate, incidentally, is in the District of Columbia, where the taxpayer-funded federal government is responsible for a 71.1 percent number.
“We can never achieve the prosperity we want if we have a labor force participation rate that is nine points below the nation, that is dead last,” Deskins commented.
How, though, can the rate be improved?
“The mantra that there are not jobs in West Virginia is not true . What we need is to get people to fill those jobs,” said state higher education Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker during the event. She added not enough people take advantage of job training and retraining programs.
In addition to having the lowest labor force participation rate, West Virginia has the lowest education attainment level in the nation. Obviously, that makes it more difficult for people to get jobs - and our state less appealing to job creators.
If Tucker is correct, and there is no reason to doubt her, a substantial number of West Virginians are not taking advantage of opportunities to improve their lives. Why?
State legislators should ask that question and another: What can they do about the situation?
Online: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/
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Oct. 11
The Charleston Gazette-Mail on the costs associated with the opioid epidemic:
When West Virginians think about the opioid crisis, the analysis tends to drift in a few understandable directions. Death tolls from overdoses, obviously, are a huge part of the picture, as is treatment and rehabilitation. There’s the law enforcement aspect of stemming the tide of illicit drugs distributed on the streets.
And, of course, there are the millions of pain pills shipped to the Mountain State and throughout Appalachia, largely blamed for starting the whole mess.
One thing that doesn’t get as much attention is cost. Not the cost in lives, or the cost of recovery or even the cost to society, but the literal, dollars-and-cents cost the epidemic has placed on families, taxpayers and governments.
It might seem tacky to discuss such a thing. Then again, when Huntington rolled out its harm-reduction program several years ago, one of the statistics it used to help the public understand the scope of the problem was the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to treat someone with hepatitis C - a blood-borne illness running rampant in West Virginia because of shared, contaminated needles used to inject drugs like heroin and fentanyl - for the rest of that patient’s life.
More recently, Al Marino Inc., a Charleston company that does plumbing, HVAC and electrical work, is suing 18 pharmaceutical companies claiming the opioid problem caused small businesses like it to pay outrageous premiums for health insurance. According to the lawsuit, health care expenses for West Virginians climbed by an average of 5.8 percent each year between 1991 and 2014, while insurance premiums hiked at a corresponding 5.7 percent per year from 2001 to 2014 - they heyday of pill mills.
Attorneys for Al Marino Inc., who are seeking class-action status, argue that “insured patients with opioid abuse or dependence diagnoses cost health insurers more than average patients, in West Virginia and nationwide.”
Whether the lawsuit has merit or not is for the court to decide, but there is plenty of evidence that painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone were marketed in a misleading way, leading to scores of addicts who later turned to even more dangerous substances, like heroin, to avoid withdrawal and feed their addiction. It’s not unreasonable to think a downturn in overall health connected with opioids would lead to a rise in insurance costs. It’s just another ripple effect of a crisis that harms so many more than just the people using the drugs.
That’s why government agencies and communities across West Virginia need to use all the tools at their disposal to stem not only drug use, but the health problems that threaten addicts and the greater community. Even the most callous individual, who thinks all drug offenders should be locked away, whether in a jail cell or through community marginalization and shunning, should be aware they are still footing the bill for this, one way or another.
Online: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/
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