Funding for people with disabilities in doubt as House takes stand against Senate

Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, asked lawmakers to consider mandating that the Department of Human Services restore funding for services for people with disabilities during the Legislative special session on Monday, May 20, 2024. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

The House of Delegates on Monday refused to accept a Senate bill regarding funding for people with disabilities, citing the legislation’s failure to mandate how the troubled Department of Human Services spend the money.

Senate Bill 1001 would give the DoHS and the Department of Health $188 million in reserve funds to use as needed. 

The money is meant to make up for recent funding cuts to the state’s waiver program for people with disabilities. It was a leading reason Gov. Jim Justice called lawmakers into a May special session. 

While DoHS could spend the new money on services for people with disabilities, the Senate’s version of the bill doesn’t require it.

Del. Michael Hite, R-Berkeley, said that DoHS had “proven over and over again that they don’t do the right thing.”

DoHS leaders told lawmakers that they had money to fund a pay increase for direct care workers who help people with disabilities and others remain in their homes and out of institutions. 

The department spent the money elsewhere, including on items like in-home COVID-19 tests. Lawmakers, in response, criticized the departments’ murky spending. DoHS has faced additional recent scrutiny for its lack of information about a high-profile child death and troubled child welfare system.  

A DoHS spokesperson did not respond to an email inquiry for this story.

Hite asked his colleagues to reject the Senate’s DoHS funding bill, saying, “We’re just supposed to roll over once again at the end of session … It’s time to say no.”

Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, said, “ … This is a time we can stand up and fight for the things we say are important in this House.”

Earlier in the day, the House of Delegates amended the Senate’s bill to mandate that the department increase its Medicaid reimbursement rate that helps pay direct care workers. The Senate stripped that language out.

The House rejected the Senate’s latest version of the bill.

Senators, led by Senate Finance Chairman Eric Tarr, have maintained that their version will allow lawmakers to better track how the departments are spending money. The bill would require the department secretary to submit a monthly report to lawmakers starting on Aug. 1 about any transfers made from the reserves account. 

The special session will continue on Tuesday, where lawmakers will attempt to find a compromise. 

‘This is not a safe environment for someone with a disability’

West Virginia uses state and federal money from Medicaid to reimburse private companies that employ direct care workers. Money from that reimbursement rate can be used to fund their salaries.

In West Virginia, care workers earn around $11 an hour.

Through state waiver programs, the staff help people with disabilities, elderly residents and people with traumatic brain injuries live independently.

Because of a lack of home-like settings, more people with intellectual disabilities have been confined at the state’s two psychiatric hospitals. The hospitals were never meant to house patients long term.

“That is not a safe environment for someone with a disability to be among sexual predators who can’t be in jail because they’ve been declared mentally ill,” said Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor. “This isn’t the right way the state should be heading.”

A 2023 survey — paid for by state dollars — said West Virginia needed to increase its rate of reimbursement and the worker salary range to $15.50-$18.60 per hour.

Despite the results, DoHS earlier this year didn’t ask Justice for money to fund the pay increase in its $279 million budget request. Department leaders said there were other funding priorities within the governor’s budget constraints.

The inaction on a rate increase led one Cabell County-based company, which provides in-home senior caregiving, to lay off nurses and staff in in-state offices that rely on Medicaid dollars. Other staffing companies have warned lawmakers about more layoffs in a state that needs more direct care workers. 

Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, owns a company that staffs in-home direct care workers. 

“I know of agencies that are laying off people and have laid off people since session, which is what I warned about because the rate increases are not high enough,” he said. “I’m hopeful.”

Worrell added, “I’m excited for a new administration next year.”

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