From The Well

At the center of the West Virginia state capitol is an area known as “The Well.” It is the informal gathering place for lobbyists, reporters, constituents and lawmakers. Centrally located between the chambers of the House of Delegates and Senate, The Well is often where information is shared, alliances are formed and deals are made.

From The Well

Debriefing the 2021 WV Legislative Session – Health Care Practitioners

Brian Skinner Health Care, Legislation
Health Care

By Brian Skinner, Esq. In a year where COVID-19 resulted in health care issues dominating the news, the West Virginia Legislature considered several health care related bills including legislation to increase patient access to health care, address the cost of health care, and limit the liability of health care providers for COVID-19 related treatment. This article …Read More

Debriefing the 2021 WV Legislative Session – Domestic Violence

Brian Skinner Domestic Violence, Legislation
Domestic violence

By Brian Skinner, Esq. The 85th West Virginia Legislature spent little time on domestic violence issues during its first regular session. Although, several bills were introduced to strengthen the state’s response to domestic violence, few received any consideration and only one was enacted. House Bill 2830, passed by the legislature and approved by Governor on …Read More

Debriefing the 2021 WV Legislative Session – COVID-19

Brian Skinner COVID-19, Legislation
COVID-19

By Brian Skinner, Esq. As expected, one of the priorities of the Legislature going into the 2021 regular session was addressing the concerns of businesses and health care providers that they were likely to beset by a wave of pandemic-related lawsuits seeking to blame them for customer, patient, or employee exposure to COVID-19. In response …Read More

Bipartisan Policy Center Forming Opioid Task Force

Brian Skinner Opioid Drug Crisis
Opioids

The United States, especially West Virginia, is seeing significant increases in drug addiction and overdose deaths while at the same time battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary CDC data show that more than 90,000 Americans died from drug overdose deaths from October 2019 to September 2020, a nearly 30% increase from the previous year. The Substance Abuse and …Read More

Debriefing the 2021 WV Legislative Session – Women’s Health

Brian Skinner Health Care, Legislation, Women's Health
Women's health

By Brian J. Skinner, Esq. During the 2021 regular legislative session, approximately 19 bills were introduced that would have impacted women’s health, if enacted. While the vast majority of the introduced legislation were related to abortion, three bills, unrelated to abortion, were enacted and are likely to increase women’s access to health care. The first …Read More