HSC
Statistical
Brief

Selected Sources of Publicly Funded Health Care Coverage¹ In West Virginia
Brief Number 2

Brief Number 2 has been updated.
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The attached tables and map present, by county, the number and percentage of West Virginians receiving publicly funded health care coverage from the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA), Medicare, Medicaid, and/or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Table A contains the number of West Virginians covered by each of the four entities; Table B also includes the percentage of county populations represented by these numbers. Figure 1 illustrates the total percentage of recipients of publicly funded health care coverage in each county.

As of February 2000, PEIA insured 199,530 state residents, or 11.0% of the state's total population (column 1). This number reflects all covered workers, retirees, and their eligible dependents. PEIA-insured workers include state government employees, teachers and support staff, higher education personnel, and some municipal and county employees, as well as 35,470 retirees and their dependents. Monongalia County had the highest proportion of residents receiving health care coverage through PEIA at 15.6%, while Hancock County had the lowest proportion at 4.2%.

The most recent data available from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) on the state's Medicare-eligible population are presented in column 2. According to HCFA, 292,811 state residents, or 16.2% of the state's population, were eligible to receive Medicare benefits either because of age or disability as of March 1999. (This number reflects persons eligible to obtain services, not those who actually received services.) McDowell County reported the highest percentage of Medicare-eligible individuals (22.5%), Monongalia County the lowest (9.4%). Thirty thousand (29,999) residents received both PEIA and Medicare coverage in February 2000; dual coverage by county is presented in column 3.

Fourteen percent (13.8%) of the state's population is eligible for health care coverage through Medicaid, as shown in column 4. (Again, these data reflect persons eligible to obtain services, not those who actually received services.) Nearly one in three McDowell County residents (32.2%) is Medicaid-eligible, compared to 6.2% of Jefferson County residents. Eleven thousand (11,251) state residents are both Medicare and Medicaid eligible; county breakdowns of dual coverage are presented in column 5.

As indicated in column 6, a total of 10,660 children were enrolled in the state's Children's Health Insurance Program as of the end of February 2000. Kanawha County reported the highest number of enrollees (902), while Pleasants County had the lowest number (26).

In all, a total of 795,548 West Virginians, or 43.9% of the state's total population, receive (or, in the case of Medicare and Medicaid, are eligible to receive) publicly funded health care coverage, as shown in the last column. By county, McDowell County has the highest proportion of recipients of publicly funded health care. Nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of McDowell County residents receive coverage provided by PEIA, Medicare, Medicaid, and/or CHIP. In contrast, only about one-fourth (25.1%) of Jefferson County residents receive publicly funded health care.

¹ Data on additional sources of publicly funded health care coverage such as persons on active military duty, workers' compensation, UMWA retirees, federal employees, etc. were not available by date of publication.
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This page was last updated 10/11/01.
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