2015 WY ANNUAL CONVENTION YEARBOOK

2015 Wyoming Nurses Association
Lobbyist Report
Toni Decklever, MA, RN, WNA Lobbyist
The Wyoming Nurses Association follows the bills that address our Legislative Agenda and draft legislation
from the Labor, Health and Social Services Committee (LHSS). This committee has been working for the
past two years to address Medicaid Expansion in our state. Though several bills were drafted during the
2015 session, none of them made it through the process.
WNA’s biggest victory was the extension to 2020 of the Wyoming Investment in Nursing (WyIN) funding.
There were a couple minor amendments that were adopted to the current statute including removing the
required year of teaching experience as part of the criteria to apply for graduate degree funding assistance
and allowing teaching at a community college as part of the payoff for doctoral education assistance.
Though many bills did not make it through the entire process, it is possible that the committee or
legislative sponsor will try to get it through next year when the body meets for the 2016 budget session.
Some pieces of draft legislation will come from interim studies and committee meetings that are held
between June and January.
The first interim meeting held by the Labor Health and Social Services Committee took place on June 8-9
in Casper. The Labor, Health and Social Services Committee had several items that were discussed. These
items are based on the Priority List that was developed at the end of the 2015 session.
Priority #: 1 Health Care System Problems
Health care access and affordability continue to be the main health related problem. The Committee will study:
• Primary care, especially for non-Medicaid eligible persons below 100% of poverty level;
• Various models of hospital organization, governance, administration and funding as they affect market,
funding and regulatory difficulties;
• Funding problems and regulatory issues related to safety net programs such as qualified health centers,
rural health clinics and home and community based providers;
• Methods to encourage medical homes.
Priority #: 2 Response to federal actions/initiatives
The Committee will monitor and respond to federal actions/initiatives, which may include:
• The decision in King v. Burwell regarding availability of tax subsidies in states with a federally operated
exchange;
• The effect of the Affordable Care Act on small employer groups and the Wyoming Small Employer
Health Reinsurance (WISER) program;
• The Affordable Care Act and the status of the Miner’s Hospital as a primary care provider;
• Other federal requirements regarding supervised agencies that need immediate action.
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