06.27.2025 / Press Release
The Big Budget Bill’s Impact on Wyoming’s Health System: More Wyoming Residents Uninsured, Higher Health Care Costs, and More Consequences of the Many Cuts to Care
New Families USA Analysis Details How Steep Cuts Will Hurt Wyoming Residents
CHEYENNE, WY – A new fact sheet from Families USA details how the pending budget bill, set to be voted on by the Senate in the next week or so, will harm Wyoming’s health system, including cutting off coverage for at least 12,000 Wyomingites, making it harder for people to get and maintain coverage, and taking away crucial patient protections for children. The bill also drives up costs for those buying insurance through the Marketplace, skyrocketing premiums and increasing out-of-pocket costs while taking away crucial premium tax credits.
“The cuts to Medicaid and the ACA will have devastating and dramatic impacts on health coverage, care, and costs for American families, and in many ways, especially in Wyoming. The cuts will not just mean that tens of thousands of Wyoming residents lose coverage, but federal cuts will force state budgets into crisis, forcing states to drastically scale back services, leading to closures of rural hospitals and community clinics,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “Senator Barrasso must stand up to the billionaires who want more tax cuts and side with patients and health providers and plans who oppose this bill that harms access and affordability of health care for so many Wyoming working families.”
The proposed cuts are in opposition with the voters when 82% of adults nationwide — including 67% of Republicans want Congress to maintain or increase Medicaid spending.
The Wyoming Medicaid program covers 62,000 children and adults, including:
- 1 in 9 Wyoming residents.
- 42,000 children — 33% of all children in Wyoming.
- 18,000 seniors and people with disabilities in Wyoming.
Marketplace coverage, available for individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid but also do not have employer-sponsored coverage, serves:
- 46,000 Wyoming residents.
- 3,200 small business owners in Wyoming and 5,900 self-employed Wyoming residents.
- About 96% of enrollees in the state who received an advanced premium tax credit to help them pay their premiums.
Families USA, the longtime health consumer advocate, is organizing with groups in Wyoming and across the nation to protect against care cuts that would force Americans to face increased costs and the loss of health coverage. The Families USA website has a plethora of materials on how its partners are working to defend Medicaid, and has facts sheets on the overall importance of Medicaid to people, the economy, and the health care system, how work reporting requirements would undermine access to Medicaid, and how cuts harm families and communities.