Wyoming Democratic Party leaders have criticized Governor Matt Mead for opposing a full Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. There are over 17,000 low-income adults in the state and State Democratic Party Chairman Pete Gosar says it's not right to oppose the expansion, since Mead isn’t proposing another option.
At a press conference last week, Mead said that on that count, Gosar is right.
“I take that criticism as a fair criticism,” Mead said. “Is that if you don’t want to do the ACA expansion, then what’s the plan B. And as I sit here today I would say it’s fair, we don’t have a great plan B. But we’re obligated to work on that. And at the same time I think we’re obligated to continue to send a message to the federal government: the ACA needs to be improved.”
In total, nearly 90,000 people in Wyoming lack insurance.