The issue arose last week when Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, asked Gov. Joe Manchin to run cross checks of both the State Police sex offender registry and Medicaid spending to see if such criminals are getting Medicaid money to buy such drugs as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. If so, Frich advised the governor, the practice needs to stop. "We have asked for a report," Peggy King, the DHHR's pharmacy director, said Tuesday. "It has not been delivered to us yet."
Frich said victims of sex criminals would be offended if the perpetrators are getting drugs to relieve sexual dysfunction, and the issue becomes critical at a time DHHR is facing a $30 million reduction in its Medicaid funding.
In a related development, a Raleigh County lawmaker is reminding West Virginia residents they have until June 22 to suggest changes in the registry so that more information is available to them about convicted sex offenders - specifically, the neighborhoods where they live. King said the information sought by Frich would be researched by Medicaid Fraud, another entity within the DHHR. "As far as I know, there's nothing illegal about it," she said when asked if Medicaid funds can be spent on impotence drugs for those with records of sex crimes. We have some tight criteria for those drugs. We don't pay for a lot of them. Utilization is low. We have not discriminated against those folks. Since it's come to our attention, we're certainly looking into that."
An Associated Press story last weekend indicated 800 convicted sex offenders in 14 states received Medicaid money for Viagra and other impotence drugs. Most of the prescriptions were filled in New York, Florida and Texas, the AP reported.
King pointed out the Centers for Medicare-Medicaid Services (CMS) has said it doesn't feel it appropriate to spend Medicaid dollars on impotence medications for sex offenders. "We do anticipate tightening our criteria with directions from CMS," she said. "All states are taking a look at that. We're certainly going to take that into account when we approve someone else. All states are taking a look at that right now."
Meantime, Delegate Linda Sumner, R-Raleigh, said existing rules only provide the offender's name, photograph and residential city at the Web site, www.wvstatepolice .com/sexoff. "While convicted sex offenders must register with the State Police, the information included in the database that is accessible to the public is very limited," Sumner said Tuesday. "Under current rules regarding this registry, families are not able to know exact locations of sex offenders when they view the Web site."
A check of Raleigh County's known offenders revealed such towns as Beckley, Beaver and Glen White, but no street addresses. A sex offender could turn out to be a next-door neighbor, but, lacking street addresses, no one would be the wiser since only hometowns are posted on the page, the delegate said. West Virginia has some 2,000 sex offenders, including about 90 in Raleigh County alone, Sumner said. "A lifetime sex offender is one that has been convicted for crimes committed against children or for multiple offenses," she said.
Sumner invited concerned citizens to file comments about having such criminals living near them by contacting the West Virginia State Police, Planning and Research Section, 725 Jefferson Road, South Charleston, WV 25309, calling their mail to the attention of Lt. M.G. Corsaro. "As a legislator entrusted by the public and as an educator entrusted with our children," said Sumner, a Beckley school teacher, "protecting children is one of my highest priorities. Now is the time to let your voice be heard on this rule change."