WV Improves Insurance Enrollment Numbers

West Virginia has significantly reduced the number of residents without insurance. The Gazette-Mail reports that Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell told advocates at the University of Charleston on Friday that West Virginia is one of the few states in the country with near universal coverage among children. More than 187,000 got health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program since the state chose to expand Medicaid eligibility under the federal health care law. Challenges still include high rates of obesity, diabetes and smoking.