West Virginia Record

A friend of mine opened a $2,000 hospital bill and did what many other West Virginians have been forced to do: swipe the credit card and hope for the best. What she didn’t realize was that she may have qualified for her hospital’s charity care program — a program that could have wiped the slate clean. Dobrinsky She’s not the only one. Close to 180,000 folks in West Virginia are weighed down by medical debt.

Dr. Bill Bissett, Ed.D., is president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association. CHARLESTON – While people outside West Virginia know about our state from the memorable “Country Roads” song by John Denver, there are other positive aspects to the Mountain State’s reputation.

Dr. Bill Bissett, Ed.D., is president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association. CHARLESTON – West Virginia manufacturers are proud to power this state’s economy. We employ tens of thousands of West Virginians, anchor communities large and small, and compete every day in national and global markets. But today, one of the biggest challenges facing our members has nothing to do with workforce, logistics, or demand.

CHARLESTON — Market intervention, through regulation of prices and payment, routinely fails to achieve neutrality. Recent rules (2024) enacted by the West Virginia Legislature — intended to protect pharmacies and patients — show this firsthand. In federally run, complex markets with many participants, the roles of intermediaries and middlemen emerge to reduce transaction costs, synthesize information, and coordinate dispersed activity.

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court threw out several lawsuits by miners who claimed faulty respirators were responsible for their black lung disease, ruling the two-year statute of limitations was triggered when they first learned they were sick not when they met with their lawyers.

This first week of October has been Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, during which legal reform organizations all over the country highlight how lawsuit abuse negatively impacts our economy, job opportunities and access to affordable healthcare. Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week is a time to focus on holding all elected officials, as well as attorneys, accountable for how they handle lawsuit abuse within our state’s legal system. West Virginians deserve a court system that is balanced and fair.

WASHINGTON – As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of my primary responsibilities is ensuring that our government is responsibly funded so it remains open and working for the people we represent, including the hardworking West Virginians.

CHARLESTON — Last week’s announcement of a Pfizer–Trump agreement to lower drug prices quickly conquered the news cycle. These negotiated discounts grab attention, promising something concrete in the form of savings for patients. But one-off agreements such as these shouldn’t distract from a much bigger drug discount program Washington already has on the books: the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. It warrants far more scrutiny than it currently receives.

The brutal slaying of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte sent shockwaves across the United States. The murder shed light on a broken criminal justice system that seemingly cares more about criminals than crime victims. That’s particularly true in West Virginia, where a person convicted of first-degree murder with mercy is eligible for parole in a meager 15 years. Fifteen years.

In a Gazette-Mail story from July 10 about the growing cost of the Hope Scholarship, state Treasurer Larry Pack admitted something that has never been said aloud before.