West Virginia’s U.S. senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, share one concern about proposals to repeal and replace the Obamacare program. It is that those who have become dependent on it not be cut off from health insurance.

No wonder they are concerned. About 554,600 Mountain State residents rely on the federal Medicaid program for health care. That is more than 30 percent of West Virginia’s population.

Of that total, about 175,000 were added by the Obamacare program. Roughly 9 percent of the people in our state are getting free health care solely because of Obamacare.

So yes, our members of Congress are right to worry about what will happen to those people if the law is repealed, though Republican congressional leaders have pledged they will not leave anyone out in the cold.

More worrisome is the level of dependence on the federal government in our state — and what it costs West Virginians. Though Washington pays slightly more than three-fourths of the cost of Medicaid in our state, that leaves about $985 million a year for state taxpayers to cover.

Even as Washington has increased our reliance on government, it has made it more difficult for West Virginians to sever the shackles of dependence. Once Obamacare is replaced, perhaps members of Congress should start thinking of ways to give Mountain State residents a hand up rather than just a handout.