It didn’t take long for WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital’s move to stop accepting patients on West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency plan to garner attention, as by the end of last week lawmakers agreed a fix must happen quickly this legislative session.

State Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, said he had spoken with Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and that the Senate, when it gavels in Wednesday during the opening day of the 2023 session, will move legislation to the House to fix the PEIA funding issue. The Senate last year passed Senate Bill 574, which would have fixed PEIA, but it stalled in the House. That legislation will be pushed through quickly this year, Weld said.

That’s excellent news.

The concern from WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital is not a new one: PEIA provides a reimbursement rate to in-state hospitals that’s slightly more than half of the Medicare rate while allowing out-of-state hospitals to negotiate rates with the state. As we’ve reported, this has led to a massive imbalance in what PEIA pays for in-state care versus out-of-state care.

“PEIA has always had a massive structural imbalance to its program, and it is in constant need of being bailed out. We need to find a permanent solution,” Weld said.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and Minority Leader Doug Skaff also agreed PEIA needs fixed quickly this session, and that the state has the funding to make it happen.

All this sentiment from lawmakers is well and good, but why does it take a crisis situation for them to agree they must act? This is reminiscent of something that took place 20 years ago this month, also at the then-Wheeling Hospital and other health care facilities in our region, when a group of doctors, after expressing concern for years over the rising costs of malpractice insurance in West Virginia, walked off the job. Gov. Bob Wise and lawmakers quickly worked to fix the problem.

Gov. Jim Justice must do the same here and shepherd a PEIA fix through the legislature. Anything less will lead to some residents in our region having fewer health care options.