Former Pleasants County assistant prosecutor Wolfingbarger appointed as West Virginia PEIA director
West Virginia's Capitol dome is shown Friday, Oct.1 4, 2005, in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)
CHARLESTON – A former Pleasants County assistant prosecuting attorney will now lead the state agency responsible for health care coverage for West Virginia’s public workers. In a press release Friday, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that Brent Wolfingbarger will be the new director of the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency, or PEIA. Wolfingbarger succeeds acting PEIA director Jason Haught, who was serving in the interim following the resignation of previous director Brian Cunningham in January. “With an impressive professional background and deep experience working in West Virginia, I have every confidence in Brent Wolfingbarger to lead PEIA and tackle the challenges currently facing the agency,” Morrisey said in a statement. Wolfingbarger served Morrisey in his previous role as West Virginia Attorney General. Wolfingbarger has been an assistant attorney general since 2020, leading the office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. He also served from 2011 to 2016 in the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General as deputy director and director of that office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) was transferred to the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 by the West Virginia Legislature after previously being managed by the Office of Inspector General within the formerly named Department of Health and Human Resources. The unit was expanded at the end of 2022 to include investigations of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Wolfingbarger also previously served as the director of Government Ethics for the District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Government Accountability from 2017 to 2019, and as a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Payment Error Rate Management project director for Chickasaw Nation Industries on Rockville, Md., from 2016 to 2017. A practicing attorney since 1993, Wolfingbarger has a bachelor’s degree in political science from West Virginia University and his law degree with the Washing and Lee University School of Law. Wolfingbarger worked for the Wallace, Harris and Sims law firm in Elkins from 1993 to 1994, then opened his own legal practice in Charleston between 1994 and 2006. It was in March 2006 that Wolfingbarger joined the Sweeney Law Firm in St. Marys and joined former Pleasants County prosecuting attorney Tim Sweeney (now a circuit court judge) as his assistant prosecuting attorney, serving in the role until 2011. When Sweeney dissolved his law firm, Wolfingbarger founded the Pleasants Law Firm. PEIA has been in the headlines the last several years due to increasing health care and prescription costs causing the program serving state employees and some city and county governments to increase premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. The PEIA Finance Board approved premium increases at the end of last year for state employees beginning July 1, 2026, of 14%, a 16% increase for local government employees participating in the plan, and a 12% increase for retirees – an increase of approximately $113 million. The PEIA Finance Board also approved an increase of 40% in out-of-pocket maximums for state and local government employees, as well as increases in co-pays. The monthly spousal surcharge approved a few years ago by the Legislature will double, from $147 to $350. Administration fees for state and local fund employers will also increase by $2.50. Responsibility for much of the increases in premium and out-of-pocket was a freeze put in place by former governor Jim Justice beginning in 2018. That freeze was lifted with the passage of Senate Bill 268 in 2023, which returned PEIA to an 80/20 employer-employee match for state employees, with the employee/employer match going to 70/30 for out-of-state medical care for non-contiguous out-of-state counties. Among other reforms, SB 268 set the reimbursement rate for all health care providers at a minimum level of 110% of what Medicare reimburses providers. Last week, Morrisey signed House Bill 2026, the budget bill setting the general revenue budget for fiscal year 2026 beginning July 1. The $5.280 billion general revenue budget for the next fiscal year fully funds the state’s 80% share of the PEIA costs. Morrisey has hinted at calling special sessions throughout the next year focused on specific issues, including PEIA costs. According to the state’s six year financial plan through 2030, PEIA premiums are projected to increase by $49 million in fiscal year 2027. Morrisey used his line-item veto authority 29 times for HB 2026, leaving approximately $42 million of unappropriated monies in the fiscal year 2026 general revenue budget. “Many tough fiscal decisions have been made in finalizing the FY 2026 budget, which seeks to right-size our ongoing base expenditures in General Revenue and Lottery funds,” Morrisey said. “This includes maintaining a strong level of budgetary reserves, limiting the growth rate of the base, and committing to address long-term liabilities. “The use of long-term budget planning, through the State’s Six Year Financial Plan, highlights the need for continued conservative budget planning,” Morrisey continued. “With likely fiscal challenges involving Medicaid, PEIA, and potential changes to the federal tax code, it’s imperative for West Virginia to maintain fiscal responsibility and flexibility in decision making.” Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com