West Virginia
Gutting Medicaid will take health care away from hardworking West Virginia families • West Virginia Watch
As the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care to more than 70 million people, Medicaid is an essential pillar of our health care system.
The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to cover more working Americans who do not make enough to afford private coverage. Now, 40 states, both red and blue, have expanded it, saving lives, keeping hospitals open, saving states money and improving the well-being of countless Americans.
Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and the states, and it is supported by 76% of Americans. It covers one in five Americans, including kids, moms, seniors, people of color, rural Americans and people with disabilities.
Every family knows someone who relies on Medicaid.
In West Virginia, 516,500 of our friends, family members and neighbors are covered by Medicaid — that includes:
- 49,000 seniors
- 196,000 children
- 86,000 people with disabilities
So, why are Republicans in Congress planning to slash trillions from Medicaid to hand out $4.6 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy?
Republicans in Congress are submitting three proposals that would dramatically reduce federal funding for Medicaid: block grants, per capita caps and reducing Medicaid matching rates. Currently, the federal government pays between 50% and 77% of enrollees’ Medicaid costs, and more for certain high-value services.
These proposals would blow at least a $235 million hole in West Virginia’s state budget and leave tens of thousands of people uninsured.
Medicaid also helps fund rural hospitals by ensuring more patients can pay for their care. Rural hospitals in Medicaid expansion states, like West Virginia, are 62% less likely to close. In 2023, over 600 rural hospitals were at risk of closing, almost all of which were within non-expansion states. If Congress cuts Medicaid expansion, more rural hospitals will be forced to close their doors.
Medicaid is the single largest payer for long-term care, maternity care and mental health services. Nearly a third of adults have received maternity care, home health care, or nursing home care through Medicaid. Nearly one in five adults nationwide struggling with mental illness have access to care through Medicaid. If Congress has its way, millions of Americans will lose access to essential care.
Congress is also considering imposing so-called work requirements; however, research shows that work reporting requirements cost states money and do not improve people’s ability to find work.
A large majority of adult Medicaid beneficiaries who can work already do. According to a 2024 analysis, over 80% of working-age adults on Medicaid were working, acting as family caregivers or attending school.
Proposals that require individuals to regularly document and report hours worked or in school cause eligible people to fall through the cracks. Arkansas, the only state to implement Medicaid work reporting requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, saw one in four of those subjected to the reporting requirement lose health coverage within six months.
Researchers found that this loss of coverage was generally not because people were unable to comply with the work requirement, but that they found the reporting process itself — the bureaucratic red tape — to be confusing and difficult to comply with, or they were unaware of the requirements altogether. Of those who lost their health coverage due to the work reporting requirements in Arkansas, half reported serious problems paying medical bills, 56% delayed addressing health care needs due to cost, and 64% delayed receiving needed medications.
So, what does all this mean? Fewer dollars mean fewer resources for low-income families, people with disabilities, pregnant women and others who rely on Medicaid for health coverage. The state’s going to lose funding for all those people who lose coverage. Even though these poorer states spend less per resident on Medicaid, their federal reimbursement rate is relatively high, and so the impact of federal cuts is large.
Gutting Medicaid will take health care away from hardworking families across West Virginia, instead of helping them — they deserve better, and it is within our power to do so.
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West Virginia
West Virginia town fires entire police force after chief resigns, sergeant alleges evidence room break-in
Former Barrackville Police Chief Zachary Freeburn. (Barrackville Police Department Facebook)
A tiny West Virginia town is at the center of a growing controversy after its entire police department was abruptly relieved of duty just days after its police chief resigned, sparking public backlash, allegations of government overreach and growing demands for transparency.
“Effective immediately, the entire Barrackville Police Department has been relieved of duty by the Mayor and City Council,” the department wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“We are sincerely grateful for the support, trust, and encouragement shown to us by the Barrackville community throughout our service. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve and protect this town.”
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The announcement stunned residents and marked the apparent collapse of the small department just months after officials celebrated hiring a new chief to rebuild the agency.
In December 2025, the department announced Zachary Freeburn’s appointment as its new full-time chief of police, highlighting his graduation from the West Virginia State Police Academy, his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and his advanced Drug Recognition Expert certification.
“We look forward to continuing to rebuild and strengthen our department to better serve our community, and we are excited to once again have a full-time officer leading our agency,” the department wrote at the time.
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Former Barrackville Police Chief Zachary Freeburn accepts an award during a West Virginia law enforcement event in 2025. (Barrackville Police Department Facebook)
Less than seven months later, that effort had unraveled.
Last week, the department announced that Freeburn had resigned “effective immediately.” The agency said Sgt. Hunt would serve as officer in charge while assuring residents that police operations would continue.
“Until further notice, Sergeant Hunt will serve as the officer in charge of the Barrackville Police Department to ensure the continued operation of the department,” the department said, adding that questions about the leadership transition could be addressed at the next town council meeting.
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Instead, the department itself was relieved of duty days later.
A letter Freeburn wrote before the department was dismissed offers his account of why he stepped down.
The letter, which was shared with WBOY and intended to be read at the July 7 town council meeting before it was canceled, alleges that shortly after the newly elected town council took office, he was called into a closed-door meeting where he was told a council member would directly supervise the police department and implement operational changes.
Freeburn wrote that he objected because he believed those directives violated West Virginia law governing municipal police departments. He said that when he attempted to discuss the proposed changes, he was told, “If I give you a directive you follow it… I am in charge and what I say goes.”
He described the situation as creating what he believed would become a hostile work environment and said those concerns ultimately led him to resign.
In the letter, Freeburn also wrote that one of the biggest complaints he heard from residents was a lack of transparency at town hall. He said he chose to resign so the issues could be brought into the open, expressing hope that residents would finally receive “the transparency that they have been asking for.”
The letter notes it was written before the announcement that the entire police department had been relieved of duty.
Former Barrackville Police Sgt. Hunt, who has been publicly identified only by his last name, told WBOY that he discovered the police evidence room had allegedly been entered when he arrived at the department Tuesday morning.
Hunt alleged town officials had previously discussed conducting an inventory of the department without officers present. He also claimed that during a meeting with Mayor Tom Straight and members of the town council, Councilmember Alex Neville acknowledged taking a set of police keys.
According to Hunt, after he accused town officials of entering the evidence room, he and another officer, who together made up the department’s entire sworn force, were immediately relieved of duty. Hunt also said he informed town officials that he intended to seek whistleblower protections.
Fox News Digital has not independently verified Hunt’s allegations.
The controversy appears to have been brewing even before the department was dismissed.
Following Freeburn’s resignation, a Barrackville resident launched an online petition urging the town council to reinstate him, arguing that he had been “forced to resign due to what many residents believe was unnecessary overreach by the newly elected Town Council.”
The petition calls on town leaders to reconsider the circumstances surrounding the resignation, restore public confidence through transparency and reinstate Freeburn as police chief.
“Our Police Chief quickly earned the trust, respect, and appreciation of our community through his professionalism, leadership, integrity, and commitment to keeping Barrackville safe,” the petition states. “Although his time serving our town was brief, his impact was undeniable.”
Organizers also urged residents to attend the July 7 town council meeting to voice their concerns. The meeting was later canceled.
In a Facebook post, the Barrackville Town Council announced the meeting had been canceled because of “a lack of sufficient information regarding items listed under unfinished business.”
The cancellation has only fueled questions from residents, many of whom flooded social media demanding answers.
“Time to do some deep background on the city council. The truth is not being told,” one commenter wrote beneath the police department’s announcement.
Another resident joked, “Who is gonna look over the 5 residents in Barrackville now?”
Barrackville, a town of about 1,200 people in north-central West Virginia, is located about 25 miles southwest of Morgantown.
Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham previously told WBOY that the sheriff’s office will continue responding to calls in Barrackville, as it routinely does throughout Marion County, ensuring residents continue receiving law enforcement services despite the town no longer having an active police department.
Town officials have not publicly explained why the entire department was relieved of dutyor responded to the allegations raised by former officers.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Barrackville Police Department, Straight, members of the Barrackville Town Council and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for comment. Fox News Digital has also contacted the West Virginia Municipal League seeking clarification on the authority of municipal officials over police department operations under state law.
Get the latest updates on this story at FOXNews.com
Trump says soaring college football costs are hitting sports
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (March 6) said the soaring cost of paying for football at colleges was harming school sports in general and the problem would need to be addressed by legislation, adding he might sign an executive order about it.
FRISCO, TX − West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez made a public plea for some reason and logic to return to major college football after decades of conference expansion, contraction and realignment from coast to coast.
He made his pitch at his news conference at the annual Big 12 Conference media days here Wednesday, July 8. Rodriguez proposes about 60 teams to come together, share their money and divide themselves into regional sections, sort of like how college football used to be with the former Big East, Pac-12, Big 12, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences.
“Can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug and then have an Eastern regional and a South regional and a North regional, and then everybody share the money?” Rodriguez said. “And, you know, with this money for everybody, we all can get along, like 60 of us or so. I think that would be great. I don’t know. Did anybody else say that? Probably not. They might be afraid. Hell, I don’t care.”
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Rodriguez, 63, made his comments in the context of his team not playing rival Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl again until 2029. They used to play regularly as independents and then members of the Big East before Pitt left to join the ACC in 2013. Since then, realignment has ripped apart regional leagues such as the Pac-12, which saw four marquee West Coast teams depart in 2024 to pursue more money in the Big Ten while others left for the Big 12 and ACC.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering a bill, the Protect College Sports Act, that would allow the pooling of television rights between more than 100 schools. It aims to spread the wealth more beyond just two dominant leagues.
“I’m not speaking for anybody other than Coach Rod, that he would love for all the Power Four teams to come together, shake hands, and then, hey, let’s pick the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages,” Rodriguez said. “And then we could have Pitt, Virginia Tech and Penn State and Maryland and Cincinnati and maybe Virginia or North Carolina, one of those, all right there. And our fans could drive to it. You know, we have a rivalry every year, and everybody makes money. Nobody gets fired. Players did good.”
Rodriguez noted his pitch might not fly in today’s world but wanted to throw it out there before it’s too late. He previously served as head coach at Michigan and Arizona.
“Wouldn’t that be fun?” he asked. “Can we put that together? I got all the (athletic directors) out there shaking their head like I’m nuts. I’m just, I mean, this is, you know, I got more time, a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I want to just get this thing right before I leave.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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