WV EMEE Voices: Melinda Moses - Cabell County

Melinda Moses: Hello, my name is Melinda. I'm on West Virginia Medicaid. I've been on Medicaid for about 16 years due to a disability.

Melinda Moses: I was under the West Virginia Medicaid program up until last July. I have the Dual Complete Medicare/Medicaid program. The Dual Complete offers more opportunities for free medicine, access to better health care, dental prescriptions, and vision, which I did not have before I joined the Dual Complete.

Melinda Moses: I mean, in the past I used to struggle to pay for my prescriptions, but since I'm on Dual Complete, I don't struggle. I just struggle with getting the applications approved on time before the deadline and then I have a gap if they're not to go without insurance, that kind of stuff, you know, that's, that's the most essential, the follow through with West Virginia, making sure that you do not lose your coverage.

Melinda Moses: The hardest thing about filling out a West Virginia Medicaid application is getting the approval. The Cabell County DHHR (DoHS) will put the application in the system online or you drop it off and then they will lose your paperwork or they'll just leave it in the computer system and they will not process it and then you will lose your benefits. This happens all the time, not only to myself but to other recipients.

Melinda Moses: I'm not ashamed that I have to use a medical card because if I was able to work, I would work and have insurance of my own. But being on disability, I'm entitled to what I have and I'm gonna use what I have.

Melinda Moses: Calling the DHHR (DoHS) office... It's a disaster in the local county. You never get a representative. You call the complaint lines and the complaints are never handled. There's a lot of red tape to even get applications for extra help snap benefits. Medicare it for anything to do with your Medicaid. Anything you do with a DHHR (DoHS) in West Virginia is a disaster. You don't get people, you have to pull tooth and nails, and threaten to call the Governor's Office. That's as far as you have to go to get anything done in West Virginia.