As the coronavirus pandemic spreads in rural America, two West Virginia communities are dealing with the loss of their local hospitals.By Mason Adams 04/13/2020 11:49 am ET Updated Apr 13, 2020

Photography by Roger May

As the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout March, two communities in West Virginia — a state whose health outcomes rank among the worst in the nation — grappled with the news that they were about to lose their hospitals.

W.Va. Senate Passes Bill To Cap Insulin Copays At $100 Monthly

By EMILY ALLEN• MAR 6, 2020

• Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, briefly spoke in support of the amended House Bill 4543 before it passed the Senate on, March 6, 2020.WILL PRICE / WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

A bill to cap insulin copays passed the West Virginia Senate Friday afternoon. 

House Bill 4543 would cap the copay on insulin, medication to help the body process sugar, at $100 per month. 

In February, the House of Delegates passed a bill that set the copay cap at $25. An amendment from the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee Tuesday increased the cap. The bill passed in the Senate 33 to 1.  

The Youngest Children Are Falling Out of Health Insurance

STATELINE ARTICLE
February 19, 2020
By: Michael Ollove

This story was updated Feb. 19 to clarify the significance of the decrease in uninsured young children in Minnesota and to include a comment from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Youngest children are falling out of health insurance

By Michael Ollove of Stateline.org
Posted Feb 22, 2020 at 7:31 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The first years of life play an outsize role in human health. They are foundational to the development of the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. Early childhood is when medical interventions to correct problems in any of those areas are most likely to succeed.