Health & Health Care in West Virginia In 2018, West Virginia ranked highest in the nation for poor physical health, poor mental health, obesity, and heart attacks. Additionally, 10% of our adult residents are likely to be diagnosed with diabetes (the second-highest rate nationwide). 33% of residents have arthritis (the highest rate in the country).…

As lawmakers and health professionals’ assess how to handle the Delta variant, it is imperative that they forgo more lockdowns. From the onset of the pandemic, the lockdowns have been to help flatten the curve. However, data and lessons from 2020 demonstrate that the lockdowns’ negative impact outweigh their potential good. Lockdowns During the Pandemic…

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, in one conversation an interlocuter questions another on how he went bankrupt, resulting in the now well-known response: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” The witty reply is one that can be applied to many situations: falling asleep, financial crises, rogue waves, avalanches, and even death. However, it…

Summer sucked.   The weather wasn’t great, but it’s not the traditional summer complaints of heat and sunburn that I’m referring to. My summer sucked because my fiancé was confined to a mere 8x10 foot room for over 350 hours this summer.   Two simple words can explain this desolate situation: The Bar. What is…

The Opioid Crisis in West Virginia By now everyone has heard the horrible news on the opioid crisis. Thousands of Mountaineers are addicted, billions of dollars have been wasted, and deaths are stacking up every day. What you may not have heard of is the treatment policies that are contributing to the tragedy. If West…

Timeline of a Miracle in Education We have seen some amazing changes in West Virginia over the last six years. This is in large part due to our efforts to build the West Virginia Miracle.   Six years ago, no one in West Virginia even knew what an education savings account was and hardly anyone…

West Virginia & Charter Schools West Virginia's charter schools have had a long and difficult road to approval. The state legislature passed the original law allowing the creation of this new kind of school in 2019. This law set a cap of 3 schools within the initial 3 years. In 2020 West Virginia Academy stepped forward…

West Virginia’s Path: A Different Future or the Eternal Now?  Sweaty, breathing heavily on a stationary bike at 5:30am, I was watching the most recent season of Netflix’s popular show, Castlevania, when a main character, Isaac, said something that floored me:   “They convince us that there is no future. There's only an eternal now.”  Isaac’s statement hit me…

Sandboxes Promote Innovation Regulation and innovation are inherent competitors with government-mandated constraints to what a person can and cannot do. The laws dictated by federal and state agencies create significant barriers to startups and protect existing companies from new competition. However, regulatory sandboxes have opened up opportunity for businesses to develop new services and products…

West Virginia Needs More Addiction Treatment Services The principle of supply and demand has been with us since Adam Smith. This principle is at the core of West Virginia’s decades long drug problem. The supply of drugs has skyrocketed all while government mandates have ignored demand for recovery services.  Cartels and pharmaceutical companies have reacted to increased demand by increasing the supply of…