Committee advances bill to repeal Wyoming nursing home 'certificate of need' with amended effective date

House Bill 289, a measure to repeal Wyoming’s Certificate of Need requirements for long-term care facilities, moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-0 voice/roll call after the committee adopted an amendment changing the effective date to July 1, 2025.

The bill was presented by Representative Rob Geringer, who said the repeal would remove “outdated government restrictions” and allow nursing homes and long-term care providers to expand capacity more easily as Wyoming’s population ages. “This repeal will increase access to care by making it easier to expand facilities and add nursing home beds,” Representative Geringer said.

Committee members heard technical and data-oriented testimony from Stefan Johansen, director of the Wyoming Department of Health, who described how the department enforces the state Certificate of Need program through its Office of Healthcare Licensing and Surveys. Johansen told the committee that, since February 2009, the department received 18 requests for new nursing facility construction: 11 were approved and seven were denied. He said the statewide average occupancy in nursing facilities is “approximately 68%,” down from pre-pandemic levels, and that about two facilities are currently over an 85% occupancy threshold used in the statute’s approval criteria. Johansen said the department had no formal position on the repeal but cautioned that it is difficult to predict market responses given Wyoming’s small population and workforce constraints.

Several members of the public and industry testified. Ben Hornock, a Laramie County resident who participated in interim study of the issue, asked the committee to remove subjective language from a required post-repeal report and to consider the time firms need to secure financing and permits before building. Carolyn Passano, executive director of the Wyoming Health Care Association, told the committee workforce shortages remain “one of the issues that we have worked with and not been very successful” at resolving and suggested the bill’s delayed effective date could provide time for facilities to prepare. Dennis Cook, a Laramie attorney and hospital board member, said competition improved services in other health sectors and urged repeal.

Committee discussion focused mainly on the bill’s timing. Sponsors originally set an enactment date in 2026 to give existing facilities time to plan; Senator Hicks offered an amendment to change the effective date to July 1, 2025. The committee approved that amendment by voice and then recorded roll-call votes: Senator Crago — Aye; Senator Crum — Aye; Senator Hicks — Aye; Senator Cole — Aye; Chairman Olsen (absentee) — Aye. The clerk reported “5 ayes do pass with amendments.”

The Department of Health offered to provide additional data to the legislature, and Johansen said the bill’s reporting mechanism (a department report to the legislature by 2029 in the introduced draft) would be workable. The director warned only that the department could not precisely predict how much new construction or expansion the repeal would produce.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 289 — repeal Certificate of Need for nursing facility construction/expansion. Amendment (Senator Hicks) changes effective date to 07/01/2025. Committee vote: 5 ayes, 0 nays. Outcome: passed committee with amendment.

What the bill would and would not do

The bill removes the Certificate of Need approval requirement for new construction and certain expansions of nursing facility beds; it does not eliminate Department of Health oversight for health and life-safety compliance of facility construction and alterations. The department would retain licensing, construction plan review and federal conditions-of-participation enforcement for Medicare/Medicaid.The introduced draft included a required follow-up report to the legislature by 2029; sponsors said the date was intended to track effects over time.

Next steps

With the committee’s amended do-pass recommendation, House Bill 289 proceeds from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the next procedural step in the Senate. Committee members and witnesses indicated they expect additional data and clarifying technical language to be discussed as the bill moves forward.