The WV Advisory Coalition for Palliative Care made many recommendations to the WV Legislature. There were several that were not implemented. The WV Serious Illness Care Collaborative is currently advocating for Recommendation 10. Current fee-for service payment available for physicians or advance practice nurses to manage patients with serious illness does not support the entire interdisciplinary team. “In order to support a palliative care benefit, an alternative payment model must be developed,” the Coalition recommends. West Virginia would be following the recommendation of the National Academy for State Health Policy, which has produced an actuarial report to show the benefits of this payment model to Medicaid. California was the first state to adopt a palliative care benefit in Medicaid. Hawaii, Maine, Colorado and New Jersey are also working on this.
All the recommendations can be found in the 2019 Final Report of the WV Advisory Coalition for Palliative Care. Until West Virginia has an alternative payment model for palliative care, access to community palliative care will be inequitable. Rural counties are less likely to have access and patients and families will not have the full benefit of the interdisciplinary team.