(A News and Sentinel Op-Ed - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Before, during and after my time in the West Virginia Senate, I’ve been proud to advocate for mental health. The best way to fight illness, physical or mental, is to prevent it before it takes hold. That’s why I believe so strongly in protecting Medicare Advantage and the benefits it brings to our seniors.

Medicare Advantage isn’t just another insurance program. It’s a lifeline for more than 34 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands of West Virginia seniors and people with disabilities. Unlike traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, it covers services that keep people healthy, not just those that treat them after they’re sick. That means dental and vision care, hearing, transportation to appointments, meal delivery, fitness programs, and mental health support.

These benefits may not seem flashy, but they matter. Exercise classes and wellness benefits, for example, help seniors stay steady on their feet and avoid chronic disease. Just as important, they bring people together. That social connection–laughing, moving, and making friends–is proven to strengthen mental health and combat the isolation that too often weighs on seniors.

Medicare Advantage also expands access to counseling, therapy, and screenings. In a state like ours, where too many families know the pain of untreated mental illness, this support is critical. Seniors deserve care that protects both body and mind.

That is why it worries me when I hear talk of cutting Medicare Advantage. Cuts are not just numbers in a budget. They mean fewer benefits that help people stay healthy and mentally strong. They mean higher costs for seniors living on fixed incomes. And they mean less support for families already stretched thin. In West Virginia, we would feel it hard and fast.

We should not be pulling back. We should be building on what is working. Medicare Advantage is working. Seniors trust it, families count on it, and providers see the difference it makes. By focusing on prevention and wellness, it saves money while helping people live longer, healthier, more connected lives.

Seniors deserve choices, and both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage are important. But Congress must protect what makes Medicare Advantage unique, especially the wellness and mental health supports that help seniors thrive.

To our lawmakers in Washington: keep Medicare Advantage strong. Do not cut the benefits seniors have earned. Protect the programs that safeguard their health, body and mind. West Virginians are counting on it.

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Mark Drennan is a consultant, former director of the West Virginia Behavioral Healthcare Providers Association and a former member of the West Virginia Senate.