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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Poll: WY Lawmakers Out of Sync with Majority of Voters on Medicaid

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Monday, November 1, 2021   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Advocates for expanding Medicaid are regrouping after Wyoming lawmakers voted against an expansion bill during last week's special session.

R.J. Ours, Wyoming and Colorado government relations director with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said anyone could lose health coverage because of loss of employment or having to take a job that doesn't offer insurance.

He said expansion would provide a basic safety net to help families survive financially if they suffer any serious malady.

"But it also helps provide that continuum of care," said Ours, "whether it's wellness checks for kids, or adults' annual cancer screenings - so that folks can have that to count on, even in the toughest of times."

According to a recent poll, nearly six in ten Wyoming Republicans and Independents - and 98% of Democrats - want to see Medicaid expanded.

Critics worry the state could be left on the hook if the federal government pulls back from covering 90% of expansion costs, with others concerned about potential loss of hospital profits.

The Wyoming Department of Health projects that expanding Medicaid would help an estimated 24,000 residents get health insurance, most of whom have jobs without health plans.

Ours said Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Utah are all benefiting from extending health coverage to low-income residents.

"You end up with a decrease in the uninsured rate," said Ours. "Hospitals are 84% less likely to close, especially in rural areas where insurance coverage is more the exception than the rule."

More than half of Wyoming voters say the health-care system is not meeting the needs of working, lower-income residents.

Two-thirds of voters say they know someone who would benefit from expansion, and more than one in four are worried that someone in their household will lose health coverage in the next year.




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