A bill that is intended to be the Wyoming’s alternative to expanding Medicaid was approved by the State Senate Monday.
The bill is sponsored by Casper Senator Charles Scott, a longtime opponent of Medicaid expansion. If the bill passes, Scott said the legislature will design a program that will provide medical assistance to those who cannot afford health insurance.
Scott and his committee have tried to come up with a similar plan in the past and failed. But Scott said momentum is growing to finally come up with a Wyoming alternative.
“I think if nothing else we will find that there is a relatively small number of people who can’t get eligible for one of the existing programs or Obamacare and need some help. And I think it will be relatively small, I think several hundred, and that we can afford to do something about. But I think if it gets more flexibility out of Washington, and we structure something that is a compromise, we can really do something.”
Scott said he wants to design a program that achieves better health results than Medicaid. The bill passed 22 to 8 and heads to the House of Representatives for further debate.