Legislative and Regulatory

The 61st Wyoming State Legislature convened for the 2012 Budget Session Monday, February 13 and adjourned Thursday, March 8, 2012.  Wyoming Medical Society advocates were hard at work representing physicians, physician assistants and their patients at the capitol, and enjoyed a great deal of success on important issues this session.  

The following is a list of legislative bill proposals relating to medicine that were proposed this year.  WMS lobbyists monitored, supported or opposed based on decisions made by the WMS Board of Trustees and the WMS Legislative Committee.  For a different look at the final status of the bills that were proposed CLICK HERE.

2013-2014 State Biennium Budget

House Bills

  • HB001:  General Government Appropriations-2.  Sponsored by the Joint Appropriations Interim Committee.  Outlines the 2013-2014 biennium state budget as well as footnotes dictating specifics on spending authority and stipulations to agencies and departments.  Passed - Final Version Posted Above.
  • HB24:  Collateral Source Payment Reductions.  Sponsored by Rep. Keith Gingery.  Allows evidence of collateral source payments for a plaintiff's expenses for medical care, rehabilitation services, losses of earnings, loss of earning capacity or other economic losses paid to be admitted into evidence.  Failed Introduction.
  • HB57:  Clinical Trial Coverage.  Sponsored by Rep(s) Esquibel, K., Craft and McOmie and Sen(s) Esquibel, F. and Nutting.  Amends state law that already requires insurance coverage of cancer clinical trials to cover cardiovascular disease clinical trials.  Failed Introduction
  • HB75:  Physicians' Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment.  Sponsored by Rep. Gingery and Sen. Dockstader.  Appropriates $10,000 from the General Fund to the WY. Dept. of Health to develop rules and regulations for the establishment of the Physicians' Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program.  POLST provies an easily understandable document to patients and families to complete that expresses goals and preferences for care to a health care provider or facility.  Withdrawn by Sponsor.
  • HB84:  Massage Therapy Practice Act.  Sponsored by Rep. Pedersen.  Establishes the Wyoming Massage Therapy Practice Act and forms a licensure board to govern the practice of massage therapy, and sets requirements for licensure.  Failed Introduction Deadline.
  • HB122:  Mental Health Parity.  Sponsored by Rep(s) Craft, Barbuto and Connoly and Sen. Hastert.  Requires health insurance plans to provide coverage for the treatment of mental illness that is no less extensive than the coverage provided for any other physical illness.  Would not apply to group plans with 25 employees or less.  Failed Introduction

Senate Files

  • SF1:  General Government Appropriations.  Sponsored by Joint Appropriations Interim Committee.    Outlines the 2013-2014 biennium state budget as well as footnotes dictating specifics on spending authority and stipulations to agencies and departments.  Passed and signed by the Governor.  Final budget posted above.
  • SF32:  Workers' Compensation Amendments.  Sponsored by Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.  Provides immunity from liability to any member of the medical commission  who reports suspicions of substandard or inappropriate care discovered in the workes' compensation proceedings.  Stipulates false reporting as a misdemeanor.  Passed and Signed by the Governor.
  • SF34:  Medicaid Options Study.  Sponsored by Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.   Legislature guided the Governor to designate a state agency to study the cost drivers of Medicaid and identify areas within the Medicaid program that would benefit from redesign.  Passed and Signed by the Governor.
  • SF37:  Medicaid Waiver Funding  Sponsored by Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.  Appropriates $14,000,000 in general fund and $14,000,000 in matching federal funds to provide services to adults and children on the home and community services waiver program who have been on the wait list for more than six months and services to acquired brain injury persons who have been on the waiting list more than one month.  Failed to be considered by deadline.
  • SF50:  Youth Sports Concussion Management.  Sponsored by Sen. Nutting.  Requires that nonscholastic sports coaches and trainers not allow youth sports participants to play if they meet certain criteria indicating risk of concussion or head and neck injury.  Failed to be considered by deadline.
  • SF54:  Meningococcal Vaccination.  Sponsored by Sen. Landen.  Mandates that all university and community college students in Wyoming receive the meningitis vaccination.  Failed to be considered by deadline.
  • SF58:  Health Insurance Exchange Study.  Sponsored by Joint Labor, Health and Social Services.  Further extends the reporting date of the already established Wyoming health insurance exchange steering committee.  Requires that the committee report to the joint labor, health and social services committee by October 1, 2012.  Passed and Signed by the Governor.
  • SF66:  Medical assitance-hospice care.  Sponsored by Sen(s) Perkins, Bebout, Coe, Esquibel, F., Landen, Martin and Nutting and Rep(s) Barbuto, Blake, Bonner, Campbell, Esquibel, K., Lockhart, McOmie and Reeder.  Authorizes payment for hospice services including room and board and appropriates $822,366 from the general fund to the Wyoming Department of Health.  Passed and Signed by the Governor
  • SF81: Medicaid Fraud Recovery.  Sponsored by Sen(s) Peterson and Dockstader and Rep(s) Greene, Harvey and Miller.  Strengthens the Wyoming Attorney General's authority in investigating and prosecuting fraudulant Medicaid claims made by providers.  Provides that not maintaining records in accordance with Medicaid program rules and requirements is a felony punishable by imprisonment or a fine of up to $10,000.  Offers protection from retaliation for employees who file a claimplaint again a provider or participate in the investigation or prosecution of a provider.  Failed.