Issue Position: Medicaid Expansion

Issue Position

I did not support Medicaid expansion this past session. The Medicaid program is extremely expensive and, frankly, did not feel like we needed 18,000 more people on government insurance at taxpayer expense.

One of my key concerns is that estimates have shown that at least 5,600 of those eligible people already had insurance in the private market but would transfer to Medicaid, thereby taking them out of the state's risk pool.

On a related note, I remain concerned for our health care providers. This is a rural state with a pretty fragile care network out there. The uncompensated care issue is huge, particularly for hospitals like ours in Natrona County. What I would be willing to consider going forward is a model like what Arkansas and Iowa have tried, which pursues a private market solution. Even that has been met with struggles, and I believe Arkansas repealed its law. The Medicaid question deserves further discussion and a Wyoming solution.

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