WHEELING, W.Va. (CNS) – In the shadow of the national health care debate is West Virginia, a state where a large portion of the population is living in poverty, where Medicaid is the focus and concern.

Catholic Charities West Virginia reports that Medicaid serves more than 546,000 people in the state, a third of the population.

Last year alone, 170,000 West Virginians enrolled in the program. Cuts to Medicaid in any overhaul of the federal health care law would be detrimental to West Virginia, said Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston and officials at Catholic-run Wheeling Hospital.

“It would be a monumental health care crisis in this state if this was to take place,” said Heidi Porter, vice president of quality and regulatory affairs at Wheeling Hospital.

“We are in a state that’s poor, highly co-morbid. People have a lot of health disparities; they have chronic conditions. They are the people who have multiple diseases who … could be restricted in terms of health coverage,” Porter told The Catholic Spirit, diocesan newspaper of Wheeling-Charleston.