By Kari Eakins – 16 Nov ’14
A Wyoming legislative committee has endorsed a bill which would expand Medicaid coverage to 17,600 low-income residents. The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee gave its approval on Tuesday to an alternative Medicaid Expansion bill developed by Senator Charles Scott (R-Natrona) and Representative Elaine Harvey (R-Big Horn/Park). The plan was modeled off of Medicaid expansion in Indiana and includes a health savings account.
While many legislators on the committee expressed worries about Medicaid expansion in general, Harvey says this bill addresses many of those issues, “People are concerned that they’d rather give folks a hand up and not a handout and this gets us closer to that. I think there are still people that are just opposed to Obamacare in general that will always be a no vote, so I think we’re getting closer.”
The SHARE Plan for Medicaid expansion, which was developed by the Wyoming Department of Health and endorsed by Governor Matt Mead, failed on a 7-7 vote.
