West Virginia health insurance

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status report:
West Virginia state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated West Virginia state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

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How did West Virginia officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (2)

• Shelley Capito

• David McKinley

Our
Pick

No (1)

• Nick Rahall

how healthy is living in West Virginia?

West Virginia dropped one spot to be ranked this year as the 43rd healthiest state to live in, according to the 2010 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• West Virginia ranks among the top 10 states for both the prevalence of binge drinking (that is, a low level of) and public health funding (a high level). Public health funding – already high in 2009 – has since increased from $128 to $150 per individual of the population.
• The state also was praised in 2010 for its low rate of infectious disease and its high availability of early prenatal care for pregnant women in their first trimester.
• The uninsured population in West Virginia has declined since 2005, from 16.4 to 14.5 percent of the overall population.

The bad news:

• West Virginia is faced with high rates of deaths due to cancer in cardiovascular disease.
• Both rates (221.6 and 329.8 deaths, respectively, per 100,000 members of the population) are high enough to place West Virginia in the bottom five states for those categories.
• The state also suffers from high rates of smoking and preventable hospitalizations.
• The percentage of residents classified as obese has more than doubled in West Virginia over the past 20 years, from 15 percent of the population in 1990 to 31.7 percent in 2010.

West Virginia's best and worst category rankings:

• Prevalence of binge drinking – 3rd
• Public health funding – 4th
• Early prenatal care – 16th
• Cancer deaths – 49th
• Poor physical health days – 49th
• Prevalence of smoking – 49th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on West Virginia.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key West Virginia health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts West Virginia here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for West Virginia, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does West Virginia have a health insurance high risk pool?

West Virginia Health Insurance Plan
1-866-445-8491

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, West Virginia started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about West Virginia's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in West Virginia

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in West Virginia and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in West Virginia.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's West Virginia health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for West Virginia.

Health insurance plan report cards for West Virginia

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for West Virginia health insurance plan report cards.

West Virginia government health insurance resources

West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP) – a low cost health care plan for children and teenagers of working families.

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources – administers programs aimed toward the citizens of West Virginia.

West Virginia Medicaid Program – information on the federal/state program to provide health coverage for those without the means to pay for it.