HELPFUL TIPS FOR WRITING LEGISLATORS
IMPORTANT:
- You’ll write your message in the text box on Step 2, where it says “Personalize your message.”
- Your message will be delivered to the 14 members of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee.
- Don’t click the “Send message” button until you write your message.
- REMEMBER TO DELETE THE TEXT THAT SAYS “[DELETE THIS TEXT AND INSERT YOUR MESSAGE HERE]”
YOUR MESSAGE SHOULD HAVE THREE SHORT PARTS:
1. Say who you are.
Make sure to tell them you’re a Wyoming voter.
My name is ________ and I’m a Wyoming voter.
2. Say what you want.
I’m writing today to ask you to vote “Yes” for the Revenue Committee to sponsor a bill to expand Medicaid during the 2023 Legislative session.
3. Say why you want it.
[This is where you can add a sentence or two about why expanding Medicaid and healthcare access in general is important to you.]
PRO TIPS
Change the message subject: This will let them know your email is not spam.
Keep it brief: Lawmakers receive lots of emails. If you write them a novel, they’re not going to read it.
TALKING POINTS
A personal, values-based message is best. But maybe mention a few of these things:
- Expanding Medicaid would provide basic health insurance for 24,000 uninsured Wyomingites who currently lack any realistic access to affordable healthcare. Watch this video about surviving cancer without insurance in Wyoming
- Wyoming’s healthcare costs and insurance premiums are among the highest in the nation, in large part because our hospitals incur $100 million each year in “uncompensated care costs” from treating patients who lack insurance and cannot afford to pay. Hospitals pass these costs on to the rest of us.
- Montana has seen dramatic benefits to its state budget from expanding Medicaid.
- Medicaid expansion is popular in Wyoming. According to a recent poll, more than two-thirds of Wyoming voters across party lines said they want the Legislature to expand Medicaid.
- Medicaid expansion would dramatically increase access to mental health services in Wyoming to help our suicide and substance abuse problems.
- States that have already updated their Medicaid programs have seen economic improvements.
- Extending Medicaid to low-income residents would create healthcare jobs, decrease premiums in the state, and help create a healthier Wyoming.