Earlier this month, advancements were made in the effort to expand Medicaid coverage for low income adults in Wyoming.
Medicaid, essentially, is health insurance for adults who cannot afford to purchase their own coverage and cannot obtain coverage through their employers.
Jan Cartwright, an active member in the Wyoming Coalition for Medicaid Expansion, stated, “Medicaid expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act’s goal of providing health insurance to as many U.S. residents as possible.”
Research sponsored by the state of Wyoming indicate there are roughly 17,600 low income adults, many of them young people no longer covered by their parents’ insurance, currently living in the state.
Last year the state legislation voted a resounding “no” to accepting 50 million dollars in federal money for expansions to Medicaid. These expansions could have made medical insurance through the Affordable Care Act less expensive; particularly for the low income, young adult demographic.
Medicaid has not offered coverage to adults that earn above 57% of the federal poverty level until now. With the Affordable Care Act, low income young adults will now have access to Medicaid coverage in states approving expansion. 26 states and Washington D.C. have approved expansion so far, Wyoming is not among these states.
“Expansion would provide each individual with the chances to get preventative health care, rather than episodic care when they get sick, or putting off care until the problem requires emergency treatment,” stated Cartwright.
The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee voted to pass two pieces of legislation on to the House and Senate floors.
While the decision to put the bills into legislative consideration does not assure they will pass, some state legislators consider the steps to be a positive indicator of Medicaid expansion consideration.
“It’s anything but a done deal,” stated Senator Chris Rothfuss, who represents Senate District 09 in Albany County. “I don’t want to sound negative though, because this is a great step.”
Normally the committee would need majority support for the two bills in both the Senate and House in order to pass them along for consideration, Rothfuss indicated. However in this case, the committee voted to suspend the rule so the bills could be pushed forward.
The new developments in the process to expand the optional Medicaid coverage doesn’t necessarily indicate a turn-around in the overall opinion of legislators in regards to the ACA, however.
“I think there’s a realization that we don’t have other options open to us and we do need to provide medical coverage to these uninsured people.” Rothfuss stated. “It’s a pragmatic change in viewpoint rather than an ideological one.”
Dan Neal, from the Equality State Policy Center, said, “Medicaid expansion will help solidify the Wyoming healthcare system that serves people and communities across the state. This would benefit thousands of Wyoming workers.”
Legislators who have already voiced their opposition to Medicaid expansion, however, may not vote in favor of the bills, despite the committee’s recent push for legislative approval.
Rothfuss, a Democrat in favor of the bills, stated, “I think there’s a long way to go to get the optional Medicaid coverage.”
The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee heard witnesses report on their inability to afford insurance under the ACA exchange in early January, and during the hearing several others protested outside in favor of Medicaid expansion.
“People are seeking assistance to enroll in a health care plan on the marketplace, but instead are finding out that they don’t earn enough to qualify for health insurance subsidies,” Cartwright stated, “without expansion, they fall through the cracks.”
The pending bills have the potential to lower healthcare costs for low income young adults, particularly college students. The ACA marketplace offers an alternative to school provided medical coverage plans. Medicaid expansion could help students while they complete their degrees and begin their job hunt.
The insurance rates at the University of Wyoming, specifically, cost approximately 475 dollars for the Fall semester and 815 dollars for the Spring and summer semesters.
With the aid of federal money that a Medicaid expansion bill could provide, plans through the ACA marketplaces could be around 50 dollars a month, as predicted by the Obama Administration in early projections of ACA costs for low income young adults.
“I personally support the Medicaid expansion bills,” Rothfuss stated, “because I feel it’s really important to get those 17,600 people covered.”
