Dive Brief:
- Lawmakers in Republican-led Wyoming are working on a compromise between two competing measures to expand the state's Medicaid program, which would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and extend coverage to an estimated 17,600 low-income residents. Both proposals differ from the standard format for expansion used in Democratic-led states.
- While the governor initially opposed expanding Medicaid under the ACA, he says now that the law has been upheld by the Supreme Court, Wyoming should take the opportunity to utilize federal money to cover the costs of uncompensated care at state hospitals.
- Once complete, Wyoming's efforts will make it the 30th state to expand Medicaid, and the 10th state to do so under the lead of a Republican governor. The other nine to have done so are Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Dive Insight:
With another Republican state coming onboard with Medicaid expansion, it's another small win for proponents of the ACA. The buy-in represents acceptance and acknowledgement of program benefits. Gov. Matt Mead explained his thinking to the media:
"I thought it was both bad policy and I thought it was unconstitutional. The courts said I was wrong," Mead told the Washington Post. "It's not acceptable to me, even though I have serious disagreements with the law, this is the current law. How do we as a state make the best of it?"
Wyoming's expansion marks the second state in a week to expand the program: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday approved Indiana's plan to expand Medicaid to 350,000 uninsured individuals.