More than 300 West Virginians rallied at the state capitol Tuesday urging the Legislature to support expansion of Medicaid in West Virginia
“That freeze essentially stopped allowing people to receive in-home care for individuals who are nursing home eligible but wanted to remain in their own home,” Jonnie George with Central West Virginia Aging Services said.
The group is hoping to convince lawmakers that not only is it the right thing to do for seriously ill patients but it’s the right thing to do with taxpayer dollars.
“If you receive in-home care in the Medicaid waiver program, it costs about 18-hundred dollars a month,” according to George. “If you put that person in a nursing home and they receive an equivalent level of care, it is over seven-thousand dollars.”
The waiver program was frozen back in December 2011. Currently there are 2,000 West Virginians on the waiting list.
House Majority leader Brent Boggs is in favor of expanding the program. He says currently there’s very little movement.
“If somebody vacates one of these slots for death or whatever reason, you can’t put someone in that slot for a year to fill it,” according to Boggs. “We basically have unfilled spots available but we can’t put anyone in it.”
