OP-ED: Agencies Need Help in Serving Most Vulnerable Citizens

The good people of West Virginia are eager to assist those in need. To that end, the West Virginia Legislature supports enhanced funding to care for our state’s most vulnerable populations.

Remarkably and sadly, however, the West Virginia Department of Human Services (DOHS) has failed to follow the West Virginia Legislature’s guidance earlier this year to increase the amount of money the agency pays to reimburse health care providers that serve the state’s Medicaid populations.

The prolonged delay in the promised increased funding potentially increases health risks among the state’s Medicaid clients while in-home care agencies struggle to hire and retain employees.

The Legislature correctly identified and responded to the financial challenges facing health care providers that serve the Medicaid-eligible. The Legislature called on DOHS to increase reimbursement rates for home- and community-based health care programs, including the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Waiver, Aged & Disabled Waiver, Personal Care Waiver, and Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver.

Members of the West Virginia Directors of Senior and Community Services (WVDSCS) applaud the Legislature’s understanding and advocacy for supporting in-home care for Medicaid-eligible citizens. We are grateful the Legislature, during the May special session, provided $180 million to DOHS in a special reserve account the agency can access if it runs out of funds and can justify expenditures.

The Legislature’s intent is clear, but the problem remains.

Nearly three months have passed since the Governor called the Legislature into special session to address the DOHS budget. We are more than six weeks into the new fiscal year in West Virginia, and DOHS still has not increased the Medicaid reimbursement rate.

The problem isn’t complicated. West Virginia home-health care providers are paid significantly less than their counterparts in surrounding states. Our state’s caregivers possess the energy, compassion, and abilities to make the programs work, but lack of adequate funding jeopardizes the Medicaid health care delivery network.

A bad problem is becoming worse. DOHS has spent far below its state appropriation for disability services for years. A government report shows the state failed to spend $29 million in 2023 for Medicaid services. Legislators recognize those unspent dollars could help address staffing shortages at senior centers and other caregiving agencies that assist people with disabilities bathe, eat, and remain in their homes.

Our clients deserve better. Furthermore, loyal employees of our senior citizens’ centers and privately managed home-health care providers simply cannot carry the burden any longer. The problems caregivers face today will not improve over time. To the contrary, agencies that deliver in-home services to Medicaid clients are losing their battle to hire and maintain full staffs.

We recognize the Legislature fully understands the problems facing our Medicaid populations and how to solve them. We are looking for follow-through. Our members and other agencies are devoted to caring for them and are eager to see a resolution to this continuing problem. We have obligations to our clients, and we eagerly seek the state’s support in our mission to serve them.

“Amy Orndoff is Legislative Committee Chairperson of the West Virginia Directors of Senior and Community Services and Director of Berkeley Senior Services in Martinsburg.”

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