The Director of the Wyoming Department of Health says if the state approves Medicaid expansion it could be awhile before it gets implemented.
Tom Forslund told the Joint Labor, Health, and Social Services Committee last night that he predicts that it wouldn’t take effect in Wyoming until January 1st of 2016. Co-Chairman Elaine Harvey said she was told that if Wyoming adopted a simple plan that it could be approved by the Spring. Forslund said a simple plan would help.
“Again the more complex the bill and the plan we present we anticipate the longer it will take for us to work it through CMS and get approval.”
Forslund says a more complex plan could also drive up costs. He added that the cheapest way to go would be to implement a simple Medicaid expansion plan that’s been endorsed by the federal government. Wyoming officials have voted that idea down.
