February 19-23, 2024 ~ Session Update

State Budget Gets Spotlight

The second week was marked by early mornings and late nights as deadlines loomed and tempers peaked around debating funding priorities for the coming biennium. In addition to budget discussions, both chambers spent the week debating bills in an attempt to vote them up or down prior to them failing on timing deadlines alone. Proposals that were not passed out of Committee of the Whole by yesterday, Friday, 2/23, will not be considered in this year's process.

Both the House and Senate completed three rounds of debate on their respective versions of the state budget. An unprecedented number of budget amendments were proposed and considered in both chambers this year. The WMS Bill Tracker now also features a tab detailing budget amendments that impact healthcare. Next week will see the appointment of budget conference committees who will be tasked with defending the positions of their respective chambers and identifying ways to close the nearly $1 Billion gap between the House and Senate versions of the 2025-2026 budget.

Of the 36 bills or senate files on the WMS radar, only 15 remain active in this year's process. The WMS Board directed staff to support the passage of eight measures, advocate in opposition to 13 and take a position of monitor only on 15 proposals. At the close of this week, WMS is on the prevailing side, meaning the legislative outcome aligned with our advocacy position, of 18 legislative proposals, is losing, or have already lost, three of our positions and continues to only monitor the remaining 15. To learn more about the proposals that continue to move through the process and those that have been defeated, check out the WMS Legislative Bill Tracker.

WMS Doc and PA of the Day

Bill Status Updates

Active Legislation of Interest to WMS

House Bill 1 - General government appropriations

House Bill 14 - Prior authorization regulations SUPPORT

House Bill 15 - Health insurance-reimbursement of overpayment SUPPORT

House Bill 24 - Certificate of need repeal MONITOR ONLY

House Bill 25 - Medicaid-third party payor conditions MONITOR ONLY

House Bill 90 - Newborn child safe havens-age of child SUPPORT

House Bill 148 - Regulation of surgical abortions MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 1 - General government appropriations

Senate File 5 - Organ transplant recipient protection MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 7 - Behavioral health redesign - vulnerable adults MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 57 - Wyoming adult hearing aid program SUPPORT

Senate File 69 - Hospice care reimbursements SUPPORT

Senate File 81 - Hospital or healthcare district created MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 98 - Statute of Limitations-medical procedures on minors MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 99 - Chloe's Law - children gender change prohibition OPPOSE

Senate File 100 - Prompt payment of insurance claims MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 115 - Behavioral health redesign amendments - 2 MONITOR ONLY

Failed Legislation of Interest to WMS

House Bill 44 - Parental rights in minor child's healthcare OPPOSE

House Bill 53 - Public health emergency definition amendments OPPOSE

House Bill 57 - Parental rights regarding vaccination OPPOSE

House Bill 59 - Prohibiting mask, vaccine and testing discrimination OPPOSE

House Bill 63 - Sex and gender changes for children - prohibited MONITOR ONLY

House Bill 76 - Reproductive Freedom Act MONITOR ONLY

House Bill 91 - Health mandates CDC and WHO jurisdiction in Wyoming OPPOSE

House Bill 95 - Health care providers - submission of insurance claims AMEND

House Bill 108 - Protection of Healthcare Workers SUPPORT

House Bill 115 - Donated blood mRNA disclosure OPPOSE

House Bill 123 - Mandatory immunizations repeal OPPOSE

House Bill 124 - Vaccination for smallpox repeal OPPOSE

House Bill 137 - Chemical abortions - ultrasound requirement OPPOSE

House Bill 143 - Practice of behavior analyst and technician family members MONITOR ONLY

House Bill 150 - Protecting religious assembly in states of emergency act OPPOSE

House Bill 156 - Best interests of a child gender affirming treatments

House Bill 173 - Pharmacy Benefit Manager - amendments

House Bill 186 - 988 hotline - appropriation SUPPORT

House Bill 216 - Advanced practice registered nurses certification OPPOSE

House Joint Resolution 4 - Right of health care access constitutional amendment MONITOR ONLY

Senate File 108 - Protecting water from chemical abortion waste

Week Two Highlights

Prior Authorization Reform

House Bill 14 - Prior authorization regulations, as amended, passed out of the House of Representatives with nearly unanimous support. It was heard in the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Friday, 2/23, where it received unanimous support. The bill will be considered on the Senate floor for first, second and final third readings next week.

Below is the information that will again be shared, this time with state Senators, to explain the reform bill and encourage their "aye" vote. The success of this work has been the result of countless hours of negotiation and the willingness to work together and compromise by Wyoming's key industry players.

Protecting Physician Autonomy

Social issues have again consumed a disproportionate amount of the legislature's time and energy in the 2024 Session with budget amendments and stand-alone bills. WMS leadership looked to the established WMS policy platforms before deciding this year's positions on legislative proposals. We continue to oppose bills that punish physicians, inappropriately, place government between physicians and their patients, or directly threaten our members' ability to practice medicine, and deliver care, without unnecessary government intrusion.

Of the bills that WMS opposed, or worked to defeat, only one remains active in this year's process. Senate File 99 - Chloe's Law - is similar to the legislative proposal introduced in the 2023 session that ultimately failed to make it to the Governor's desk.

WMS testified in opposition to the bill on the grounds of resisting legislation that aims to set dangerous precedent, and protecting the autonomy of physician clinical decision making in providing individualized care to Wyomingites. We also were clear in acknowledging that while WMS members agree on the danger of gender reassignment surgery for minors, great debate continues within the medical community surrounding the larger spectrum of treatments that fall under the label of gender affirming care. WMS continues to educate lawmakers around the danger of politicizing healthcare and the value of allowing medical professionals to use their expertise, training and experience to debate this controversial issue and determine the standard of care.

Dr. Mike Sanderson testified in opposition to the bill on behalf of the Wyoming Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He argued that the feared gender reassignment surgeries are not performed in Wyoming nor would it be realistic to think that they would be anytime soon given the state's lack of the required subspecialty teams needed for such a rare endeavor. View a video of the morning's hearing by clicking HERE.

The bill passed committee unanimously and was carried forward to second reading by the close of the legislative day on Friday, 2/23.

Ever find yourself wishing that Wyoming would elect more physician-friendly lawmakers to debate and decide the complicated and nuanced policies impacting your practice? The Wyoming Medical Political Action Committee (WYOPAC) is a great way to make sure your money goes as far as possible in supporting and encouraging thoughtful, serious candidates in the 2024 election.

Consider donating and becoming a member of WYOPAC today! Click HERE to learn more!

WMS invested a great deal of time and resources to establish THE WIRE designed to enable any member, at any time, to take an active role in shaping the policy agenda for the medical society.

• Log into THE WIRE and see if any proposals have been submitted for review and comment. Once logged in, you can navigate to all the proposals submitted to date by clicking on the Proposals Archive.
• Review the comprehensive listing of bills on the state legislative website, or on the WMS Bill Tracker. See if anything catches your attention.
• Submit a proposal in THE WIRE for voting and comment across the membership for the WMS Board to review prior to next week's meeting in Cheyenne.

Remember, logging into THE WIRE is easy. Simply use the email on file with WMS and the same password you have set to log into www.wyomed.org for your member account management. If you have any trouble, simply use the Reset Password feature on the site, or contact a member of the WMS staff for assistance at 307-635-2424 or at info@wyomed.org

How To Connect and Stay Engaged



Use wyoleg.gov to learn more about this year's legislative process. Below are quick links to important information.

Daily Calendars including floor calendars, audio streams, and committee schedules

Bill Listing that includes all legislative proposals posted for the 2024 Session

As always, Executive Director Sheila Bush welcomes and invites any and all communication. If you have questions about the status of a bill, want to provide feedback or input on legislation, have questions about using THE WIRE, or want to share your thoughts on any other aspect of the WMS advocacy work, please email her at sheila@wyomed.org or call her cell phone at 307-630-8602.