CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Republican-controlled Legislature has fired its first salvo against the federal Affordable Care Act.
Lawmakers plan to take up a GOP-backed bill Tuesday that would repeal a 2010 state law that set up a health insurance exchange that provides insurance to 19,800 West Virginians under the ACA.
The bill’s critics — health advocates and some Democrats — say the legislation, coupled with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling expected this summer, could put West Virginia at risk of losing $50 million to $235 million in federal subsidies that consumers use to reduce their health insurance costs.
“Thousands of West Virginia consumers stand to lose millions of dollars,” said Perry Bryant, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care.
Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, called the GOP-sponsored bill [HB 2216] “an absolute attack on the best elements of the Affordable Care Act.” Perdue said the legislation could leave many West Virginians without health insurance and drive up hospital costs.
“In the rush to destroy Obamacare, the health-care access of thousands of West Virginians, and the associated costs with that, have been forgotten,” Perdue said. “[This] smells like a scorched-earth policy.”
The bill — up for a vote Tuesday in the House Health and Human Resources Committee — also would do away with “in-person assisters” who help people wade through health insurance options before they sign up for coverage under the ACA.
“It takes away an invaluable tool that helps citizens understand their choices and make informed, intelligent decisions,” Bryant said. “People really value the personal assistance in getting enrolled. These are complex issues and purchases.”
House Health Committee Chairman Joe Ellington said the legislation would simply give lawmakers the final say in future decisions about the West Virginia health insurance exchange, where consumers enroll in the ACA…
