CHEYENNE, Wyo — Testimony provided in the Joint Revenue Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 22 made clear that Wyoming’s economy stands to benefit significantly from the adoption of Medicaid expansion.
The testimony came just before the Revenue Committee voted 9 – 5 to sponsor a Medicaid expansion bill during the 2023 General Session in Cheyenne, which will get underway on Jan. 10.
“Medicaid expansion will help people do better,” said Revenue Co-Chairman Cale Case (R-Lander). “That’s having more healthy people go to work, to show up on their shift, to give their kids more attention. Man, we need to do this.”
Case added that expansion has the support of the public, hospitals, physicians and the business community, among many others. “The financial incentives are incredible,” he said.
“Medicaid expansion will help people do better. That’s having more healthy people go to work, to show up on their shift, to give their kids more attention. Man, we need to do this.”
– Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander)
Rep. Ed Buttrey (R) of Montana, chairman of the Montana Legislature’s Business Solutions Caucus, spoke to the positive impact of expanding Medicaid in Montana.
“We wanted to provide a pathway out of poverty for our low-income population,” Buttrey said. “We have to realize that a healthy workforce is a productive workforce.”
The committee also heard from Josh Hannes of the Wyoming Hospital Association, whose forthcoming economic analysis demonstrates that hospitals are among Wyoming’s largest employers and top economic drivers. When hospitals are hit with uncompensated care costs, their economic efficiency suffers and the critical care they provide their communities is at risk.
Buttrey said Montana’s experience matches Wyoming’s goals. Before Montana expanded its program in 2016, he said, hospitals lost more than $400 million per year providing free services to low-income people who would be eligible for Medicaid expansion. He said that has been reduced by more than half.
“One of our main goals [of Medicaid expansion] was to keep our rural ‘safety net’ hospitals open,” Buttrey said. “Our rural critical access hospitals were in dire financial straits.”
The recent report, Montana’s Fiscal Gains from Medicaid Expansion Are a Model for Wyoming, states, “A comparison between Montana and Wyoming illustrates the dramatic impact of Medicaid expansion on uncompensated care costs and serves as a useful guide for Wyoming.”
The report also notes, “The experience of other states, including its neighbor Montana, shows that if Wyoming expands Medicaid, it will dramatically increase coverage while providing the state with fiscal savings for many years to come.”
