2015 Legislature Toni Decklever, WNA Lobbyist 1. Medicaid Expansion - SF66- There is no topic that has more potential impact on business in Wyoming than Medicaid Expansion. The Governor highlighted the fact in his State of the State address and encouraged everyone to support his SHARE plan. There is word that even though the LHSS committee did not consider the SHARE plan, it will come forward as an individual sponsored bill. The Alternative Plan, SF66, will take public testimony next Monday at 8:00AM. Medicaid expansion is an important topic because of the current financial impact of uncompensated care in Wyoming, Hospitals lose over 200 million in uncompensated care each year. Certainly this issue feeds higher insurance rates (currently some of the highest in the country) and threatens healthcare stability especially in our rural areas. Certainly the decision not to expand has caused problems but opponents claim that accepting fed dollars with no guarantee puts the state at risk. Questions that have been raised are: We accept all kinds of federal money in Wyoming with little thought. Why do these dollars seem to be different? Is there a way to protect ourselves from long term risk of financial exposure? Will the feds accept the plan that is ultimately passed? How do we build a plan that encourages long term improvement and does not encourage long term reliance on public dollars? (safety net vs permanent benefit)? How do we allocate the increased costs if we do not expand Medicaid? The questions listed above will all need to be answered and a compromise between the two plans hashed out for Medicaid expansion to ultimately pass. 2. Amendments to WyIN funding - HB71 a. WNA has asked for the sunset date (currently 2016) be extended to 2020. b. That the year of teaching requirement before enrolling in a masters degree program be removed. c. That nurses that obtain their PhD can pay the debt off by teaching at UW or a community college. At this point, the committee is supportive of the bill as it is. There has been some discussion about possibly increasing the amount that is currently allocated (5.2 million a biennium) to allow for additional program improvements. 3. There are several interesting bills that have been filed in the last week. Some might be worth watching - some are just interesting. If you click legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/billreference/BillReference.aspx?type=ALL you will get a listing of all the bills that have been filed. Ive been asked to keep an eye on: HB 34 - Convalescent care center legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/Introduced/HB0034.pdf HB 119 - Death with Dignity - legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/Introduced/HB0119.pdf HB 78 is regarding medical marijuana Though there are always bills that it seems like we should get involved in - items that fit into the Legislative Agenda are given top priority. Though -- if any individual feels strongly about any piece of legislation, ie the Death Penalty Bill - they have the right to contact their legislator as an individual and express their concern. Thank you, Ton Decklever, RN WNA Lobbyist
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:42:47 +0000
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