Senate committee approves bill to codify Medicaid eligibility with emergency exception
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Summary
A Senate committee advanced a bill to enshrine current Medicaid eligibility in statute, adopting amendments to specify optional groups and allow the governor to temporarily expand eligibility during a public health emergency that would end 30 days after the next legislative adjournment. Supporters argued for legislative control; advocates warned it would limit future flexibility.
The Senate Labor and Health committee advanced Senate File 6, a bill that would codify existing Medicaid eligibility groups in state statute and require legislative authorization for future eligibility expansions, with limited exceptions. Department staff walked the committee through an amendment to identify optional groups and preserve some programs that would otherwise be cut under the bill’s baseline language.
The department described clarifications for a handful of smaller and optional populations, including the 11/15 family‑planning waiver (commonly referenced in testimony as the "pregnant by choice" program), employed individuals with disabilities, and the breast and cervical cancer treatment option. Department staff said the employed‑individuals program had 275 enrolled members in 2025 and that Medicaid expenditures for that group in 2025 were roughly $1,257,779.
Public testimony included opposition from Jen Lowe, executive director of Healthy Wyoming, who said the bill "freezes eligibility" and would make it significantly harder for future lawmakers or administrators to respond quickly to recessions, hospital closures or new federal options. "By making any eligibility change a heavy political lift, this bill effectively chooses to keep those uninsured numbers and those unreimbursed costs right where they are," Lowe told the committee.
Committee amendments adopted during the hearing removed a colloquial parenthetical reference to the family‑planning waiver (striking the phrase "referred to as pregnant by choice"), moved a fixed‑date reference from July to January to anchor the statute to an already‑fixed date, and added a gubernatorial emergency exception allowing the governor to temporarily expand eligibility during a public health emergency; that temporary expansion would end 30 days after the adjournment of the next legislative session unless the legislature acted.
After adopting amendments, the committee approved the bill by roll call. The vote recorded five ayes (Senator Crum, Senator Hutchings, Senator Scott, Senator Steinmetz and Chairman Brennan). Senator Crum volunteered to carry the measure to the floor.