Legislative Hearing Update

WMS Advocates for Prior Reform at Joint Labor, Health and Human Service Hearing

American Medical Association (AMA) Senior Legislative Attorney Emily Carroll, JD, joined WMS Executive Director Sheila Bush and Wyoming Hospital Association President Eric Boley on Thursday, June 22, to advocate for comprehensive prior authorization reform in Wyoming.

The Legislative Interim Committee on Labor, Health and Social Services entertained draft legislation 24LSO-0068 v0.6 which WMS and WHA both support. This PA reform legislation is the product of hours of work by a statewide working group, in which WMS participated, and is modeled after AMA template legislation. WMS was pleased to receive overwhelming support from the legislative committee at this week's hearing and is optimistic that, together with our partners at the hospital association, we will be able to achieve meaningful reform for our members and their patients in the 2024 Legislative Session.

The Committee tasked the working group with meeting one more time to finalize details of the bill in advance of the fall hearing scheduled for September 21-22, 2023 in Saratoga, WY.

WMS members, please review the linked legislation and report any concerns, suggestions or feedback to WMS at your earliest convenience. We are working to make this legislation as meaningful for our members as possible and we can't do it without your help.

Watch Hearing Here

Prior authorization legislation explanation begins at approximately 4 minutes.

AMA testimony begins at approximately 23.5 minutes.

WHA & WMS also testified at the hearing.

2023 Annual Meeting

Member registration is open for the 2023 Annual Meeting & Specialty Society Summit - REGISTER TODAY!

WMS is proud to invite our members to attend the 2023 WMS Annual Meeting! A few highlights we have in store for you include:

14 hours of CME offered - anyone attending can earn up to 9 hours!
Specialty Society Meetings - with 6 specialty societies participating!
WMS Annual Membership Meeting - breakfast for all WMS members!
WMS 120th Anniversary Gala - cocktail reception, dinner, and live music!

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Wyoming Medical Society and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is accredited by the Colorado Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Cheyenne Regional Medical Center designates this presentation for a maximum of (14.0) AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center

Laramie, WY

September 15-16, 2023

Conference Agenda

Lodging Info

Celebrate 120 years with WMS - Gala Event Saturday Night!

GALA TICKETS INCLUDED IN CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

Grab a drink, enjoy a tasty meal, and dance the night away as WMS celebrates 120 years of physician advocacy in Wyoming! This is one celebration you won't want to miss!

5:00 pm - President's Cocktail Reception

featuring JRQ - The Jane Robinett Quintet

7:00 pm - 120th Anniversary President's Dinner

8:00 pm - 120th Anniversary Celebration

featuring Tris Munsick and the Innocents

A Message from Paul Johnson, MD:

WY Medicaid Medical Director

Medicaid Unwind

One of the many unfamiliar terms I encountered when joining Medicaid is the “unwind”. My imagination went to a new dance move or relaxing after a hard week at work. Further investigation revealed this references the complex undertaking of redetermining eligibility of Medicaid recipients.

During the Public Health Emergency (PHE), the federal government stipulated states could not close cases except for residency, death or client request. As a result Wyoming paused redeterminations of Medicaid eligibility. Practically, this meant that newly eligible recipients could be enrolled but current recipients could not be determined ineligible. This had the impact of swelling the number of clients on Medicaid.

Before the PHE, Wyoming had approximately 55,000 clients on Medicaid. Presently, we have approximately 85,000! The task at hand is to methodically confirm that each of our Medicaid recipients continues to be eligible for the program, while having layers of safety measures in place to prevent eligible recipients from being unenrolled. We are communicating renewal notices by mail, telephone and text message. We placed information on our websit e and disseminating information through our

community partners.

Want to help?

One way physicians and PAs can help is posting signs in offices and educating your

front office staff and patients directly to make sure they contact Medicaid to update their information.

Is your patient no longer eligible?

For those who no longer qualify for Medicaid, many will qualify for subsidized plans on the marketplace. Both Wyoming BCBS and Mountain Health CO-OP are offering a special enrollment period for patients who lose their Medicaid outside the normal enrollment period.

https://www.wesystem.wyo.gov/

https://enrollwyo.org

https://wy211.communityos.org

WMS Member Website

WMS Public Website

WMS Annual Meeting Website