About 55% of West Virginia recipients surveyed were unaware of fresh Medicaid work requirements starting next year. (Photo via Getty Images)
Starting next year, work requirements will be an eligibility requirement for more than 161,000 Medicaid recipients in West Virginia, and most state residents are unaware of it. Found a fresh survey.
About 55% of West Virginia recipients surveyed were unaware of Medicaid’s fresh work requirements. The same percentage of Medicaid recipients across the country knew nothing about the work requirements.
The Health Management Academy, a A health systems research organization based in Arlington, Virginia, did this Survey of 1,974 Medicaid enrollees in April. Of the respondents, 38 were from West Virginia.
Beginning January 1, 2027, individuals ages 19 to 64 who are part of the Medicaid expansion population must work or exercise 80 hours per month to qualify for the program. Expanded Medicaid covers those who qualify for the program because they make up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is about $45,540 for a family of four.
Exceptions apply for pregnant women, Native Americans, caregivers of children under 14 or disabled adults, and others.
The changes are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer. Federal legislation imposes historic cuts to health care and food aid. All four members of the state Congressional delegationall Republicans, voted for the bill.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, has said The bill’s changes to Medicaid and federal food assistance are necessary to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” and preserve programs for those who deserve them.
State officials have said they await the state’s Medicaid benefits Decline registration when the requirements will be available, but it has not yet been said to what extent. The state hired West Virginia University Health Affairs to assist with project management and system requirements for the work requirements, officials said.
Earlier this year, the Medicaid expansion population also included West Virginia 161,184 people.
The survey also found that an additional 27% of respondents nationwide said they had heard about the work requirements but were unsure of the details. About 85% of respondents did not know that Medicaid eligibility determinations will occur twice a year starting next year, the survey found.
A study earlier this year found that in West Virginia between 40,000 and 75,000 people will lose their health care due to work demands and increased eligibility reviews. The actual number of people who lose coverage will depend on the policies the state of West Virginia has in place, the study says.
States are required to contact Medicaid recipients to inform them of the program changes by June 30.
A spokeswoman for the West Virginia Department of Human Services did not respond to questions for this story.
Rhonda Rogombe, health and safety policy safety net analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said she was not surprised but disappointed to learn that most Medicaid recipients in West Virginia were unaware of the upcoming work requirements.
She said the state learned while winding down Medicaid — when people were dropped from the program because it reverted to pre-pandemic eligibility standards — that reaching people can be tough. During this time, 75% of people who lost insurance coverage They did so not because they were not eligible, but because they had not completed the required paperwork, she said.
“This just shows that we as advocates and others can do a lot more to make sure people stay connected to their reporting and understand what’s going on,” Rogombe said.
Rogombe noticed this The state has a fresh website That explains the changes coming to Medicaid. She said the state has also begun mailing postcards to affected families and will follow up by sending detailed notices as required by federal law.
She said the Department of Human Services has been working with West Virginia University and advocates on its plans to implement the Medicaid changes.
“All of those things, I think, really helped get the whole thing off the ground,” Rogombe said. “But it’s only as good as its ability to reach the people it’s intended for. I think that’s the next biggest challenge.”
Michele Goldman, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Free Clinics, said that with changes to Medicaid coming, member organizations have been preparing to accept patients who no longer have health insurance.
Goldman, a nurse who used to run a free clinic, said she is most concerned about how people are coping with losing their health insurance through drug rationing. People don’t understand that skipping doses of blood thinners can lead to strokes and heart attacks, she said.
“Our concern is that the hospitals will be overwhelmed with patients because that is where they will be treated when there is nowhere else to go,” she said. “And secondly, because they’re going to be so sick, they’re going to need more specialized care. West Virginia – another problem we have is that there are so many healthcare deserts because of the state’s geography.”
The association represents four of the seven free and nonprofit clinics in the state of West Virginia.
Goldman said free clinics in the state are considering expanding telemedicine or opening satellite offices to fill some of the gaps where there are no other health care providers.
Telehealth is one aspect of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s plan Rural Health Transformation Programa five-year federal program that provides $199 million to West Virginia for the 2026 fiscal year.
“I think everyone will do the best they can with the funding. It’s pretty competitive to get funding for the Rural Health Transformation Program,” she said. “I’m not sure the free clinics can get as much as we’d like, so we’re actually looking at other ways to get some funding for telemedicine as well.”
“I think across the country it’s going to be difficult for people, especially because I don’t think people are really paying attention to what’s going on, and I think they’re going to be surprised if they suddenly don’t have Medicaid coverage anymore,” Goldman said.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
