Details still being worked out on West Virginia DHHR split

House Bill 2006, relating to reorganizing DHHR, was passed by the Legislature during the 2023 regular session and signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice.

HB 2006 would terminate DHHR and split it into a Department of Human Services, a Department of Health and a Department of Health Facilities effective Jan. 1, 2024. All three new departments would have their own cabinet secretaries but share one central Office of Shared Administration for administrative support services similar to the departments of Commerce, Tourism and Economic Development.

Coben told the committee he has yet to put together a document on how he plans to implement splitting up DHHR into three new departments. A meeting with the Governor’s Office to discuss a plan to split the department has yet to be held for its input. Those meetings will begin next week.

“I hope following those meetings, I will be able to come back to you with more specific plans that have been discussed and vetted with the Governor’s Office as well,” Coben said. “Those meetings will be in depth. They will be our initial meetings. Some decisions, I hope, will be made during that time. We may need to have subsequent meetings following those next week to really finalize the plans as it relates to the governor’s thoughts moving forward.”

Following the legislative session in the last week of March, Coben convened 21 town hall meetings with DHHR employees to seek input, hear concerns and answer questions about the transition. Coben said many of the concerns revolved around future job security once the department is split and how the individual bureaus would function during the transition process.

“I believe those sessions went quite well in addressing the concerns and anxieties that many of our employees expressed, but also giving me an opportunity to hear what those concerns were as I go forward with meetings with the Governor’s Office,” Coben said. “I can make sure I convey those concerns and represent our department’s employees to the best of my ability in those conversations that will be upcoming.”

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, asked Coben to provide the committee with any issues or roadblocks that could hinder implementing the DHHR split.

“I know that you’re seeing some of them,” Blair said. “I want to know what roadblocks are going to be showing up, whether it’s federal, whether it’s things we have statutorily — whatever it takes to be able to get this accurate. I need that feedback. We need that feedback.”

“I think the issue of how we navigate with the federal government in terms of our federal matching funds will be very important,” Coben said. “There are a number of things we will need to navigate as we go through these next nine months.”

House Deputy Speaker Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, pushed back on Coben’s concerns over preserving federal funding as the department is split up.

“I don’t believe we’re trying to do anything here that other states aren’t already doing,” Rohrbach said. “We’re not reinventing the wheel here. And the federal government has worked with other states very well to get this funds flow accomplished. This is not something new we’re foisting upon the federal government for them to try to figure out.”