Mark Gordon on Health Care

Increase Medicaid funding to providers of OB services

Strong "no" on Medicaid expansion; led charge in legislature

Wyoming is one of 12 states that have resisted expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The federal government provides states a federal matching rate for the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage to cover the cost of adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level of $17,744. The fear of accepting the match is that Washington will yank it away some day, or reduce the amount of the match, straining the budgets of states like Wyoming.

Rammell said the last thing people in Wyoming should do "is get more addicted to federal money." Washington is bound to go bankrupt under the strain of its $30 trillion of debt, he said.

COVID-19 public health orders were balanced

Governor Mark Gordon defended the public health orders he enacted, saying he withstood pressure to take even more drastic actions.

Some of the attacks came from inside Wyoming. Governor Gordon responded angrily at early news conferences to calls from his political left that he should issue a statewide "stay at home order." Critics on his right questioned the science and the legality of the orders. Gordon famously called the resistors "knuckleheads." Rammell said that Gordon went too far.

Kept state "open for business" during pandemic

As we move into the next phase of managing the pandemic and consider President Trump's guidelines for "Opening Up America Again," we are applying our propensity for planning to reopen the segments of our economies that temporarily closed. Each of us has identified triggers for when regions of our states and sectors of our economies should reopen, based on metrics tailored to our unique circumstances. We are sharing expertise and best practices on how to safely reopen restaurants, churches, gyms and other businesses while continuing to slow the spread of infection.

Improve mental health care; launch in-state suicide hotline

Signed legislation extending Wyoming's health insurance pool

Program summary frm Wyoming Department of Insurance: The Wyoming Health Insurance Pool (WHIP) was created by the 1990 Wyoming Legislature to provide health insurance coverage to residents of Wyoming who are denied adequate health insurance. However, due to the ACA, individuals can no longer be denied traditional health insurance due to their existing medical conditions, thus essentially eliminating the need for the Non-Disabled WHIP plan. [The WHIP pools are an alternative to ObamaCare - Ed.]

: Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 28-1-1 on 2/7/2019; Passed House 57-0-3 on 1/24/2019; Signed by Gov. Gordon; assigned Chapter Number 16 on 02/14/2019.

Craft a state-led course on healthcare

We have been given an opportunity to craft a Wyoming solut

Competition and personal responsibility, not single-payer

To keep small businesses in Wyoming on Main Street and make sure others open we have to address the rising cost of health care. This can be done by allowing individuals to deduct the cost of health insurance from their federal income taxes. Larger corporations already do this and small business owners must be able to benefit as well. We should allow businesses and individuals to pool across state lines to lower overall costs.

The solution does not lie in a single payer system or nationalized health care. Competition and personal responsibility must be part of the solution.