W.Va. lawmakers hear ‘Roadmap to Health’ plan

Mannix Porterfield

CHARLESTON — Providing a tax credit for small businesses that offer health coverage would go a long way toward shrinking the ranks of the uninsured in West Virginia, an Emory University official told lawmakers Tuesday.

An estimated 254,000 people in the state lack health coverage, and lacking early intervention, the costs of treatment for chronic maladies can prove to be enormous, Dr. Kenneth Thorpe advised the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.

“We provide these services in very expensive settings,” he said. “And they show up very late in their illnesses.”

One portion of the Roadmap to Health Project calls for a tax credit up to 50 percent of the costs borne by a small business that provides coverage to its employees, Thorpe explained.

Nearly 60 percent of the workers in the state are employed at small business firms, he pointed out.

Another approach to improve health care is the “medical home” concept that calls for patients to see a primary care physician who assumes the responsibility in managing one’s entire realm of health care needs, Thorpe explained.

In such a setting, a patient would learn nutrition, how to monitor blood sugar and blood pressure, and the full gamut of managing a chronic illness, he said.

“The intent is to prevent disease before it happens,” said Thorpe, chairman of Emory’s health policy management department.

“A lot of the focus on the community health teams is primary prevention. So if you’re healthy, we want to keep you healthy. If you’re sort of pre-diabetic, we want to make sure you don’t become diabetic. And if you’re diabetic, we make sure we provide the best model for managing and keeping that disease under control.”

Up to one-fourth of the medical issues treated in West Virginia are linked to diabetes, he pointed out.

Overall, Thorpe told the panel, as much as 75 percent of the health dollars spent in the state are absorbed by chronically ill patients.

One contentious issue entails the credentialing of medial practitioners, and in seeking a resolution, the task force suggested creation of a single, statewide, private entity in three regions to allow access to a West Virginia Uniform Credentialing application.

The idea is to reduce the entire process to two months, except to 90 days when good cause for the delay is shown.

Figures are a moving target for now, but observers feel the Obama administration will lay out some $60 billion in new Medicaid funding and $10 billion for enhanced technology procedures to enhance health care, Thorpe said.

In the latter aspect, Thorpe said West Virginia is ahead of the curve compared to other states and faces “a great opportunity” because it has been researching the issue for several months and

“When that money becomes available, we’ll be able to get hold of it,” he added.

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