By Gary Zuckett, WV CAG Co-Director
As Crossover Day (April 2) neared and the bill introduction deadline had passed, lawmakers used procedural workarounds to push several bills out of committee.
One of these heartless bills was a ‘trigger bill’ that would take healthcare away from 166,000 West Virginians covered by the Medicaid expansion if Congress reduces the current 9 to 1 funding match for this population. HB 3518 “originated” in the House Finance Committee last Thursday, March 27, quickly moved to the floor, then was sent back to committee to give advocates—some already at the Capitol or able to get there quickly—a chance to weigh in. A request to follow the two-day committee process outlined in the new House rules was rejected—even though public hearings were scrapped earlier this session in favor of this supposedly more transparent approach.
Since Medicaid dollars are the income stream keeping many of our rural hospitals afloat, this ‘trigger’ would also kill off many struggling healthcare facilities in our state. After this was clearly laid out during the committee hearing by advocates and providers, the Finance committee voted the bill out of committee for a second time along party lines.
Action alerts immediately began from WV CAG, partners, allies, and groups representing the medical community and organized labor. During a quick rapid response meeting, we planned a Monday morning press conference/People’s Public Hearing calling for the bill to be defeated. Interestingly, while we were in the middle of this press event, it was announced that HB 3518 had been parked on the House inactive calendar.
It failed to “crossover”—and died as a result. However, as we’ve mentioned, in the final days of the session, bills that were once considered ‘dead’ can come alive as amendments into living bills. Medicaid funding will be a critical part of budget negotiations heading into the final days of the session, so we’ll have to watch out to ensure HB 3518 doesn’t turn into a zombie bill that comes back to haunt us!
