Wyoming Rejects Medicaid Expansion with 19-11 Vote
Following the negative feedback on the Budget, the bill was rejected with a 19-11 vote and a parallel Medicaid expansion bill was pulled.
- According to an article by Ruffin Prevost on Reuters, on February 6, 2015, the Wyoming Senate rejected a bill to support the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program. Opposition for the bill voiced implementation and fiscal concerns.
The Washington Times reported that Senator Michael Von Flatern indicated that the Medicaid expansion would cover 17,600 people who were previously uninsured and bring in about $100 million in federal funding to the state.
The Wyoming Hospital Association indicated in its news brief that implementing the Medicaid expansion would be a “win/win for Wyoming.” The Wyoming Hospital Association supported the bill, and outlined several talking points that defended their support. Talking points included the benefit the bill would provide to anyone that paid for health insurance, it would provide better access to healthcare for Wyoming’s communities, the cost of uncovered beneficiaries to the state and the economic benefits that a Medicare expansion would provide.
The bill was rejected with a 19-11 vote and a parallel Medicaid expansion bill was pulled.
“We still have those people who are uninsured, and we still have those medical facilities that are not financially healthy. We need to take care of them,” said Representative Elaine Harvey, Chairman of the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, in an article by Ben Neary from Associated Press. “But I saw it as an exercise in futility to move forward.”
Matt Mead, Governor of Wyoming, expressed the need for coverage for those with lower income in Wyoming after the bill’s failure.
“We must continue to tackle the tough issues around health care – access, costs and insurance. We must recognize what health care means to individuals and to our economy,” Mead said. “While I respect different views, the fact is today we are left with working poor without coverage. We are left with Wyoming taxpayer dollars funding health care of other states. We are left without a solution for $200 million of uncompensated care that our hospitals must absorb and pass on to the rest of our citizens and we are rejecting $120 million dollars meant for Wyoming.”
The rejection of the bill in Wyoming, follows the rejection of a similar bill inTennessee. On February 4, the Tennessee Senate rejected a Medicaid expansion bill with a 7-4 vote. The plan in Tennessee would have helped to cover approximately 280,000 low-income beneficiaries.
Medicaid expansion has been successfully implemented in other states.Indiana recently became the 28th state, including DC, to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Accepting or rejecting the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA could have noticeable impacts on a state’s hospital revenue cycle. Higher Medicaid enrollment rates have been predicted for states that expand their Medicaid coverage, and with it, an increase in Medicaid spending by 18.3 percent.
