Medicaid Expansion Rejected in Wyoming Despite Governor’s Plea

The Wyoming Senate voted to reject federal funding that would have been used to expand Medicaid on Feb. 19.

The vote came just one day after Gov. Matt Mead (R) repeated his plea to accept the estimated $268 million in federal funds to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

The 20-10 Senate vote against Medicaid expansion “apparently mark[s] the legislature’s last word on the issue this session,” Associated Press reporter Ben Neary wrote February 20. Wyoming lawmakers have now voted against Medicaid expansion in each of the last four years.

An estimated 20,000 low-income Wyomingites would have benefited from expanding Medicaid eligibility.

Wyoming is one of just 18 states that have chosen to reject federal money to expand Medicaid, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports.

— by Matthew Ozga