Charleston Gazette-Mail

By: Erin Beck

The head of the federal agency charged with addressing substance abuse in the United States visited a South Charleston mental health care provider Monday and announced a $330,000 grant to help direct addicts into treatment from emergency rooms.

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One treatment provider has announced plans to open a facility in July at the former Sugar Grove U.S. Navy base, in Pendleton County, to coincide with when that decision takes effect. But the president’s plan also includes significant cuts to Medicaid and the end of Medicaid expansion, which covers about 50,000 low-income West Virginians with substance abuse diagnoses. The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families estimated that it would cut federal Medicaid spending by $1.439 trillion over 10 years. Medicaid is the single largest payer of substance abuse and mental health treatment in the country and covers nearly 30 percent of West Virginia.

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