Health care reform-pilot project.

08LSO-0359.L1

FISCAL NOTE

This bill provides $1,296,946.00, originally appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health, to be reappropriated to the Insurance Department effective immediately.  This bill is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for it to become law.

This bill creates a pilot program to provide health care insurance coverage for a specific segment of the population.  The bill also creates a health care insurance reform pool in order to provide the coverage.  The bill does not increase or decrease the revenues to the State of Wyoming.  The bill does provide that participants will pay premiums, on a sliding scale based upon income, for health insurance coverage.  Those premiums will be determined by a benefits design committee after creation of the program.  Therefore, the amount of these premiums cannot be determined at this time and, further, it is assumed the premiums will be paid to the health care insurance reform pool.

In order to fund the health care insurance program created by this bill, $1,296,946 in general fund monies previously appropriated to the Department of Health in order to implement 2006 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 66, is reappropriated to the Insurance Department.  This amount, plus the yet undetermined premiums to be paid by participants, represents the upper limit of what can be spent to implement the health care insurance program.  It is not possible to determine now the specific projected cost of this program to the state because a benefit plan committee created by the legislation has to make several decisions related to such things as the benefits to be provided and the premiums to be paid by participants, based on the participants’ income levels, before any estimate of cost can be made

Prepared by:   Ken Vines, Insurance Department    Phone:  (307)777-6894