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Wyoming officials pitch optional 'Bear Care' catastrophic coverage; lawmakers flag competition and authorizing authority
Summary
Department leaders described a small proposed catastrophic insurance product (referred to as "Bear Care") as an optional, limited program to protect against major financial events; deputies said the product would not be launched without legislative authorization and emphasized higher medical-loss ratio targets compared with some private options, while lawmakers raised concerns about unfair state competition.
Deputy staff and department leadership presented a conceptual optional catastrophic plan — discussed in the materials as "Bear Care" — designed to provide protection for large, low-frequency medical events rather than comprehensive marketplace insurance.
Franz Fuchs, deputy to Director Johansen, said enrollment would be optional and that the department planned a product with a high proportion of premiums paying medical claims. “With this particular program, we would anticipate a medical loss ratio of 95% or above,” Fuchs said, contrasting the department’s target with a Colorado review he cited that found some nontraditional products spent roughly 40% of premiums on medical care.
The department described the catastrophic product as a small portion of the overall allocation (about 1.4% in the presentation) intended to shield individuals and small businesses from financial ruin in catastrophic events. Johansen and staff emphasized that the department would not stand up the program without explicit legislative authorization and that federal approval covered the concept but not state implementation without statute.
Several lawmakers raised policy and market concerns. One committee member warned that a state-backed product that avoided some private-sector regulatory requirements could undercut private insurers and shrink market choices. Johansen said the department was presenting the idea for debate and noted the product’s voluntary nature and federal approval constraints.
Deputy Ron Suks and other staff said the catastrophic plan would be designed to be reliable and to limit administrative overhead so premiums would more directly fund medical claims and not large profits. The department proposed studying the design and bringing statutory language to the legislature for review during upcoming billwork.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the concept during the public session. Staff asked members for direction on whether to pursue separate statutory authorization for an insurance product or to leave the issue to later bill drafting.
