STUDY: Medicaid Expansion Would Cripple Wyoming Healthcare

Medicaid expansion has failed to pass in the 2023 Wyoming legislative session.

It fails every year.

But supporters of expansion, who have always been very well organized, will continue to try, believing that expansion is good for the state of Wyoming.

But The Foundation for Government Accountability has a few words of caution for the state of Wyoming.

In a recent article, they laid out 5 reasons why Wyoming should never expand Medicaid.

1. The truly needy already receive government-funded coverage.
Medicaid expansion would open up these programs to include any adult, even the able-bodied, with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

2. Low-income Wyomingites will lose superior private coverage.
If Wyoming expands Medicaid, newly eligible individuals will no longer qualify to receive subsidies, and will instead be pushed to enroll in Medicaid.

3. Medicaid expansion hurts hospitals.
Forty percent of expansion states saw hospital job losses during the first year of Medicaid expansion, and hospitals continue to close in expansion states.

4. Medicaid expansion will weaken Wyoming’s economic advantage.
States that have expanded Medicaid have seen their Medicaid enrollment skyrocket, enrolling twice as many able-bodied adults as was expected. $3 billion over 10 years. Barring massive tax hikes, Wyoming would become just as strapped for cash as expansion states.

5. There are better ways to expand coverage.
Policymakers can adopt state-based reforms right now to increase coverage options and reduce costs.

Foundation for Government Accountability goes into far more detail than you see here as to why they are opposed to expansion. You can read their entire article at this link.