The purpose of this bill is to control the increase
in the cost of liability insurance and to maintain access to affordable health care services for West Virginians. It provides a mechanism to increase the limitation on civil damages in medical malpractice cases to account for inflation by linking
increases to the Consumer Price Index. It also requires appellate courts to review certain decisions made by circuit court judges; adds provisions limiting the admissibility and use of certain information; and requires adjustment of verdicts for past
medical expenses.Legislative outcome: Vetoed by Governor; then modified & re-passed by Senate 28-4-2 on March 6; re-passed by House 77-16-7 on March 9; then signed by Gov. Tomblin March 18.
Source: West Virginia legislative voting records for S.B.6
Mar 18, 2015
Shelley Moore Capito:
Vote for repeal & replace; but work for fixing ObamaCare
Q: Your views on the Affordable Care Act?Capito: "What I would vote for is to repeal and replace. I've voted for that 50 times but I also recognize that the ACA has some good things about it.
So we need to keep what's good and replace it with what will work."
Tennant: "I will never go back to the days when insurance companies can deny insurance for someone with a pre-existing condition."
Source: WV MetroNews on 2014 West Virginia Senate debate
Oct 8, 2014
John Buckley:
Less government in healthcare; more individual choice
The path to reform of America's health care lies precisely in the opposite direction of ObamaCare: less government, more individual choice. Enabling consumers to attain direct control of their health insurance, rather than obtaining coverage through
their employers or through the government, will provide the incentives to control costs. The lack of 1st-party cost-consciousness, where currently the bulk of medical expenses are paid for by 3rd-party payors, contributes to a spiral in the overall cost
of health care. The result is that millions find health care insurance unaffordable; but that problem is due to the government's distortion of the health care market in the first place. Freeing consumers to purchase health insurance offered across
state lines, allowing an open market with respect to consumer choice on benefits, co-pays, and catastrophic coverage, and equalizing the tax consequences of purchasing health insurance directly from an insurer are immediate steps to health care reform.
Source: 2014 West Virginia Senate campaign website JohnBuckley.org
Aug 31, 2014
John Buckley:
ObamaCare is a Big Government bacterial infection
Too much government has messed up the health care system in the United States. ObamaCare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, has disrupted the health insurance coverage of, and increased premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for, millions of Americans.
Worse, its perverse incentives draw millions of others into greater dependence on government health programs. In addition, it will significantly slow economic growth and kill jobs.
Obama's continuing patches, "fixes," delays, and selective exemptions only highlight that ObamaCare is an ongoing disaster. It was fraudulently sold ("You can keep your doctor if you want to"), hastily packaged ("we have to pass the bill so that you can
find out what is in it"), and rammed through despite the public's consistent opposition.My opponents propose an aspirin to "fix" the government mess; I propose market-based solutions as an antibiotic to Big Government's bacterial infection.
Source: 2014 West Virginia Senate campaign website, JohnBuckley.org
Aug 31, 2014
John Raese:
ObamaCare relies on poor business model; use private-sector
The disastrous ObamaCare rollout in recent weeks underscores Raese's long-held contention that the federal government shouldn't be in businesses that belong in the private sector.Now all can see what ObamaCare critics like the business-savvy
Raese was trying to tell us in 2012, namely what a terribly poor business model ObamaCare has. Without millions of younger Americans to participate in ObamaCare to offset all of the older participants, ObamaCare can't possibly work.
However, what are the odds of getting enough of these young Americans to pay higher health care insurance premiums when they don't feel the need for expensive plans in the first place? Everyone sees this--now.
Raese saw problems like this from the beginning.
John Raese was the state's Number One challenger to ObamaCare in his races against Manchin. He tried to tell us.
Source: Huntington News editorial on 2014 West Virginia Senate race
Nov 21, 2013
Natalie Tennant:
Supports access to insurance for all
President Obama has pushed the national Democratic Party farther to the left on everything from health care to the environment to gun control. That's a problem for U.S. Senate candidate Natalie Tennant.Take ObamaCare for example, which is losing
popularity due to the mismanaged enrollment process. Tennant wants to find the right balance on ObamaCare. During a recent appearance on Talkline, when asked directly whether she would have voted for or against ACA if she were in the Senate,
Tennant equivocated. "We need to have West Virginians have the ability to have access to health care," Tennant said. "I am going to vote for West Virginians, the 270,000 (uninsured), to be able to have access to health care, to not deny these
individuals."
It was a way of supporting the concept of insurance for all, particularly those with pre-existing conditions, without actually saying she supports ObamaCare.
Source: West Virginia MetroNews on 2014 West Virginia Senate race
Nov 20, 2013
Natalie Tennant:
FactCheck: GOP says 147,000 lose insurance; really 8,800
About 8,800 West Virginia residents stand to lose their health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act's new requirements for insurance plans. The health care reform law requires citizens to enroll in health insurance but also includes a list of
requirements for health insurance plans. Insurance providers must cancel or change plans that don't meet those requirements. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a press release attempting to tie the Affordable Care Act to Secretary
of State Natalie Tennant. The NRSC claimed 147,000 West Virginia residents "are at risk of losing their health insurance," but a health care analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said that figure is far above any estimates he's seen,
which are around 28,000.
An NRSC spokesperson said the group obtained its numbers from census data, although the Daily Mail could not find that number on the census website.
Source: Herald-Dispatch AdWatch on 2014 West Virginia Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
Joe Manchin III:
ObamaCare makes healthcare more affordable for everyone
Manchin said the goal of ObamaCare is to make healthcare more affordable for everyone which would result in a healthier population and lower healthcare costs.
But Raese deems ObamaCare as part of the problem.
Source: West Virginia MetroNews on 2012 W.V. Senate debate
Oct 3, 2012
Joe Manchin III:
Reform & repair ObamaCare, not repeal
On health care, Manchin and Raese clashed over the Affordable Health Care Act. Manchin says a complete upheaval of the law would be the wrong idea. "I have been for reforming, repairing, and not repealing. Pre-existing conditions is wrong,"
Manchin said. "You don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater, sometimes you just have to change the water every now and then."
Raese disagrees with that. In 2010, Raese fully supported a full repeal of the bill. And he still does. "This country, right now, I call it a coalition of taking.
They are taking our money, they are taking our power, and they are taking our freedom, and they are giving it government to control. That's unacceptable," Raese said.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting on 2012 W.V. Senate debate
Oct 3, 2012
John Raese:
ObamaCare is the problem, not the solution
Manchin said the goal of ObamaCare is to make healthcare more affordable for everyone which would result in a healthier population and lower healthcare costs.
But Raese deems ObamaCare as part of the problem.
Source: West Virginia MetroNews on 2012 W.V. Senate debate
Oct 3, 2012
Bob Wise:
$1.5M to provide healthcare access for every child
This Legislature has acted wisely in establishing a Children’s Health Insurance Program to help the uninsured children of working families. But this program has yet to reach many eligible children. I have included one and a half million dollars
in the budget to cover additional children. And we will work aggressively - and cut through red tape - to make sure every child in West Virginia has access to coverage - whether under CHIP, Medicaid, or private insurance. Every child. That’s my goal.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
Bob Wise:
Improve patient rights by allowing to sue HMOs
We have a patient bill of rights law, so they say, in West Virginia - but patients will tell you, it does not grant them very many rights. I want to fix that. I will present for your consideration a new Patient Bill of Rights,
which includes a fast, impartial grievance procedure for disputes, independent reviews of coverage denials, and the right to sue an HMO for negligence that results in harm to a patient.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
Bob Wise:
More discounts for prescription drugs
We now have a strategy to contain prescription drug costs: we’re going to create a pharmacy benefit program for our poorest senior citizens. We’re going to expand the discount program for seniors above the poverty level. We’re developing a drug
benefit plan that could be an add-on for people on Medicare and employer-based insurance. And we’re going to pool the buying power of all the state agencies that purchase medicine and use this to drive a harder bargain with the drug companies.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
Page last updated: Feb 12, 2018