Manchin, Capito Announce West Virginia Will Receive Additional Funding To Boost Substance Use Disorder Provider Workforce

Charleston, WV – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced West Virginia is one of five states that will receive reimbursements for increases in Medicaid expenditures to boost substance use treatment provider capacity in West Virginia. This funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will support substance use disorder prevention, treatment, recovery and other services for Medicaid patients across West Virginia.

 

“West Virginia continues to have one of the highest overdose rates in the country, with 1,377 drug related overdose deaths in the last year alone. As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the worsening drug epidemic, our healthcare providers are exhausted and need support. This announcement is welcome news for our Medicaid substance use treatment providers who will now receive continued federal funding over the next three years to boost our substance use disorder provider workforce,” said Senator Manchin. “This is another step in defeating this crisis and helping our fellow West Virginians get the quality treatment they need and deserve while supporting our brave healthcare providers.”

 

“Communities across West Virginia continue to feel the devastation caused by the addiction crisis, which has touched nearly everyone in West Virginia in some way. This underscores the need for creative, community-based solutions to pull individuals out from the grip of addiction. I’m proud to announce this funding today, which does just that. This funding is also a result of the SUPPORT Act that I helped introduce, pass, and sign into law in 2018. I will continue to use my role as a leader on the Senate Appropriations Committee to bring the funding needed to support more innovative solutions to help end the addiction crisis in our state,” Senator Capito said.

 

West Virginia has been selected to participate in a program created through the Substance-Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, that was passed into law in 2018. This program funding will increase substance use treatment provider workforce capacity through Medicaid through a three year reimbursement period. The federal government will pay 80 percent of increases in Medicaid expenditures for substance use disorder treatment and recovery services, and West Virginia will pay the remaining 20 percent.