Wyoming would seek higher Medicaid payments for rural maternity providers

The Wyoming Department of Health would apply for federal approval to pay eligible providers higher Medicaid rates for maternity care. Payments would cover maternity care for eligible Medicaid patients in rural and frontier areas. Providers would need active Medicaid enrollment and permission to practice at a labor and delivery facility. Eligible licenses would include obstetrician-gynecologists, family doctors providing childbirth care, midwives, and general surgeons providing backup for cesarean deliveries. The department could allow other licensed providers through its rules. It would define rural and frontier areas and issue rules to carry out the proposal. Higher payments would depend on federal approval of a change to Wyoming's Medicaid plan. The application requirement would take effect if the bill became law. The remaining payment provisions would take effect when federal officials approved the change to Wyoming's Medicaid plan.

The Wyoming Department of Health would receive money reserved for higher Medicaid payments to eligible maternity care providers. The money would support higher Medicaid payments to providers eligible under the maternity care proposal. The money could not be transferred or spent for another purpose. Money left unspent and not committed would return as required by law on June 30, 2028. The legislature would express its intent to include this funding in the department's next two-year standard budget. The funding provision would take effect upon federal approval. Its spending period would run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028.

The Wyoming Department of Health would report added payment costs to the legislature's budget and health committees. The report would cover additional costs from higher Medicaid payments to eligible maternity care providers. The report would include any recommendations for adjusting the higher payments. The reporting requirement would take effect upon federal approval, with the report due on or before October 31, 2027.