State healthcare reform bill advances

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The Wyoming Senate will decide whether the state will take a stab at healthcare reform after lawmakers mull over a bill that would allow residents to purchase health insurance from out-of-state companies.

An overwhelming majority of state representatives on Tuesday voted in favor of HB-128, which would deregulate Wyoming health insurance law to allow residents to shop in states that pool with Wyoming.

The only two votes against the bill came from representatives Pete Jorgensen and Jim Roscoe, legislators whose districts include all or parts of Teton County.

Jorgensen criticized the way the bill was rushed to a vote by House Speaker Colin Simpson (R-Cody), who introduced it. Jorgensen said Simpson, a canidate for governor, may use the bill politically to demonstrate a record on healthcare.
“The bottom line is it was very premature,” he said.

Jorgensen said he opposed the bill because he believes healthcare needs to be reformed on a national level, and because it’s not clear how effective forming a multi-state consortium will be.

Roscoe said he voted against the bill only out of respect for Jorgensen, and because he knew it would pass by a wide margin anyway.

“I think to some degree it could help us within the Rocky Mountain region,” he said.
Roscoe said he did not know the full details of the bill because the original had been altered before it was voted on. It appeared few house members understood what was in the bill that passed, he said.

“I don’t think we really understand it at this point,” Roscoe said, adding that even some of the bill’s sponsors were unclear about how the new bill functions.

A copy of the bill, available Tuesday on the Wyoming Legislature’s Web site, included a disclaimer to be included on the top of applications for out-of-state disability insurance. It warns that out-of-state policies are not governed by the State of Wyoming, nor protected by its regulations, which include caps on premium increases.

“Any purchase of individual health insurance,” the disclaimer continues, “should be considered carefully since future medical conditions may make it impossible to qualify for another individual health policy.”

Simpson introduced the HB-128 along with another healthcare reform bill that would create a health savings account, though he missed an appointment to call JW Weekly for comment Tuesday.

One observer of the legislative process noted the two legislators who opposed HB-128 were both Democrats, the party that tends to favor a more dramatic overhaul of national healthcare.

“What is really interesting is that the Democrats [were] fighting the bills,” said the observer, who did not give consent to be quoted for this article.

Reached for comment, Wyoming Democratic Party Executive Director Bill Luckett said while he was not familiar with the specifics of HB–128, he didn’t fundamentally oppose Wyoming taking a stab at healthcare reform.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen nationally, so at this point it makes sense to explore solutions at the state level,” Luckett said. JHW
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