Oct 7, 2022

This morning I was asked by the Governor’s office to join Director Stefan Johansson from the Department of Health and the Governor’s staff for a 7:00 a.m. meeting with Jonathan Blum the Chief Operating Officer from the Office of the Administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and his staff on the missed opportunities Wyoming has in providing better healthcare coverage in Wyoming because of rules and regulations put in place that does not take into consideration the population and landscape of Wyoming. I thought the meeting was productive in that they acknowledged their lack of understanding regarding health care in Wyoming. We hope to have a follow-up meeting to include driving them around the state so they can understand the challenges we face compared to the east coast.

I moved from the CMS meeting to the Labor and Health Committee meeting also being held in the Capitol Building to report on the progress of the behavioral health redesign assigned to the Mental Health sub-committee that I am the Co-chairman of. We have been working on this task since May with the Department of Health and community mental health providers around the state. This subcommittee has put into place a pilot for deliverables and funding allocations to align with the new policy to focus state funds for mental health on priority populations. The pilot should let us know of any changes that need to take place before the change goes into effect in 2024.

I drove back to Lander for a election forum hosted by the League of Women’s Voters at the Fremont County Library in the evening. I was very impressed with the turn out and the questions generated by the League of Women’s Voters and the questions asked by the audience. The event gave me a great opportunity to explain my position on and my understanding of issues we are currently faced with in Wyoming.

It takes a lot of work to put this kind of event in place. I appreciate the invitation to participate and the follow-up communications regarding the details of the forum extended to me and Mr. Martin. Thanks to the League of Women’s Voters, and I might add that Emily Tilden is a great moderator, but that is because she is a great person.

You can watch the forum on the YouTube link here: https://youtu.be/Mygv1F3RXsw