An Alternative to Medicaid Expansion

It was painful to sit in December's Labor Committee meeting and listen to the Department of Health and others advocate for Medicaid expansion. This is such a terrible idea in so many ways that it is hard to know where to begin explaining what is wrong with it.

We get help from Gillette's Doctor John Mansell, who is on the front lines treating patients now on Medicaid. I attach the testimony he sent to the Committee so you can get this information first hand.

Governor Mead's unhappy challenge to the legislature was to either pass expansion or come up with an alternative. Dr. Mansell's alternative is to try to keep Medicaid afloat by selecting out the patients who really need care and by helping hospitals directly — but NOT by enrolling 17,000 more adults between the ages of 18 and 64 who are above the federal poverty level [up to 138%].

Somebody needs to point out that Medicaid is a dysfunctional program that needs to be eliminated. Its underpayment for care puts providers and hospitals on a starvation diet, and they are starving. But eliminating Medicaid altogether will take a lot of doing.

Meanwhile Dr. Mansell's proposals, if enacted, would save all Wyoming residents, including those struggling to make ends meet, a breakdown of our health care system, and ensure that care is available where it is most needed.

The first step is to defeat the Labor Committee bill favoring expansion. Beyond that, there is a lot that can be done to breath life back into our health care system in Wyoming. As health care fails in other states, many are moving here to take advantage of Wyoming handouts.

Wyoming may be the only state that still has the flexibility to protect itself from government's shaky promises. Please consider what Dr. Mansell has to say and rise to the occasion — contact your legislators and speak to your friends and neighbors. This matters.

In Liberty, with Best Wishes for the New Year,