CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Medicare and its partner Medicaid have become familiar names in West Virginia during the past 50 years. The anniversary of the creation of the programs was marked in the Mountain State Thursday.
“It’s a life and death situation in West Virginia. If we didn’t have Medicare we would be in total devastation for a lot our our population,” West Virginia Alliance for Retired Americans President Virginia Moles said on MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
Nearly one in four state residents get their health insurance through Medicare and the numbers are higher when you add Medicaid, which provides care for the poor and children.
Medicaid has helped West Virginians in other ways according to Renate Poore, policy director for West Virginians for Affordable Health Care.
“Medicaid pays for more than 80 percent of all nursing home care in West Virginia,” Poore said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how important Medicaid is for the elderly also as well as Medicare.”
More than 100,000 additional state residents have signed up for Medicaid as part of the expansion created by the Affordable Care Act and that should result in more preventative care, Poore said.
“I hope the expansion of this program will allow people to see their doctor regularly, to get their flu shots, to get their other immunizations,” she said.
Both programs have a lot of critics. The skyrocketing cost of the social programs is often discussed. AARP West Virginia supports both programs but state director Gaylene Miller said on ‘Talkline’ Thursday some sensible cost-cutting measures need to be taken.
“We’ve got to do something about this skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. We’ve got to look at how we can reduce unnecessary procedures and services and we must continue to ferret out fraud and abuse,” Miller said.
The next 50 years of Medicare is going to require some “fresh thinking and further innovations,” Miller said to keep the program strong and meet the needs of West Virginians.