By Matthew Young
For HDMedia
The West Virginia Senate, through Friday’s passage of Senate Bill 570, approved the transfer of nearly $200 million in Rural Health Transformation funding to the state’s Department of Health.
The funds were provided to the state as part of the recently enacted federal RHT Program — a component of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which guarantees each state a minimum of $100 million per year for five years.
The Make W.Va. Healthy Act of 2026
While the Senate took action to appropriate the RHT funds, it is the House of Delegates which intends to outline how those $199,476,099 are spent.
Introduced by House Health and Human Resources Committee Chair Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, House Bill 4982 — called the Make West Virginia Healthy Act of 2026 — was passed in the House of Delegates on Monday by a vote of 91-4. The bill calls for the creation of the State Office of Healthy Lifestyles, with the stated goals of improving health outcomes for state residents and reducing “avoidable medical utilization.”
The bill’s primary function is to create the “Office of Healthy Lifestyles” within the Department of Health. This new office will then establish a “Healthy Lifestyle Coalition” tasked with developing and implementing statewide health-based programs and coordinating collaboration of said programs between the office, the Department of Education and private sector stakeholders.
Return of the Presidential Fitness Test
While multiple state agencies are potentially impacted by the passage of SB 570 and HB 4982, only the Department of Education has thus far submitted a fiscal note in reference to either. And while HB 4982 would codify the inclusion of physical education courses in graduation requirements, and calls for the reinstatement of the dormant Presidential Physical Fitness Test, the fiscal note shows there to be no financial impact on schools.
Under the terms of HB 4982, the academic physical education requirements would be as follows:
- Elementary school: Not less than 30 minutes of physical education, including physical exercise and age-appropriate physical activities, for not less than three days a week.
- Middle school: Not less than one full period of physical education, including physical exercise and age-appropriate physical activities, each school day of one semester of the school year.
- High school: Not less than one full course credit of physical education, including physical exercise and age-appropriate physical activities, which shall be required for graduation and the opportunity to enroll in an elective lifetime physical education course.
The bill would also prohibit schools from restricting recess for certain students in eighth grade or below as a form of discipline, and individual schools would be required to establish a “School Fitness Month” during the academic year.
The Presidential Physical Fitness Test would be administered three separate times during a student’s academic career, and while participation would be mandatory, specific achievements would not need to be reached to satisfy graduation requirements. However, students must fall within the 85th percentile as determined by the 1985 School Population Fitness Survey to be eligible to receive the President’s Physical Fitness Award.
According to the bill, for an 8-year-old boy to reach the 85th percentile, he must achieve:
- Five pull-ups
- 1-mile run in under 8:48
At 16, he must achieve:
- 11 pull-ups
- 1-mile run in under 6:08
For an 8-year-old girl, she must achieve:
- Two pull-ups
- 1-mile run in under 10:02
At 16, she must achieve:
- One pull-up
- 1-mile run in under 8:23
‘Food is Medicine,’ and the new role of Medicaid
A core belief stated in HB 4982 is that “nutrition-related chronic diseases are prevalent among Medicaid members in West Virginia and contribute to poor health outcomes and increased health costs.” And while HB 4982 authorizes the use of nutrition-based intervention measures, also known as “Food is Medicine” programs, it is through Senate Bill 562 that the Senate looks to formalize those uses.
Introduced by Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, SB 562 would establish a state-sponsored Food is Medicine program in accordance with the RHT Program. The program would provide home-delivered nutritious or prescribed food-based medical alternatives to Medicaid users. The goal would then be to work with Medicaid to fund this service as a more cost-effective means of reducing what the bill considers “avoidable medical utilization.”
“I think [Medicaid officials are] going to be receptive,” Senate Health and Human Resources Committee Chair Brian Helton, R-Fayette, told HD Media on Friday. “[The Food is Medicine program is] preventative and ultimately will drive costs down with healthier lifestyles.”
SB 562 — although nearly identical to the already established, statewide West Virginia Food is Medicine Coalition — necessitates the state’s usage of the program.
“We have a lot of favorability from all of our legislators that I’ve spoken to,” Helton said. “I can’t speak for Medicaid, but I’ve had no one tell me that they’re not in favor of it. I think it’s going to make all of our lives a lot easier when people are healthier, and those Medicaid claims come down because of it.”
What’s next?
While SB 562 is currently pending before Helton’s Health and Human Resources Committee, both SB 570 and HB 4982 have passed through their respective houses of origin. And although SB 570 has not yet received a committee reference in the House of Delegates, HB 4982 has also been assigned to Helton’s Health and Human Resources Committee.
With March 4 being the 50th day of the legislative session — also known as “Crossover Day” — SB 562, and any other pending bills related to the Food is Medicine initiative or the Rural Health Transformation Program, must be passed and reported out of their house of origin in order to complete the legislative process before the conclusion of the session on March 14.
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