Tips and talking points for contacting the Legislature's Labor & Health Committee

OVERVIEW

Every year, more hospitals across Wyoming are shuttering services in order to stay afloat or risk going bankrupt.

This often means labor and delivery units are closed, leaving growing “maternity care deserts” where pregnant women must travel hours to give birth or get prenatal care. This is dangerous and unacceptable. If we want Wyoming families to thrive, we must make sure maternity care is available in every corner of our state.

Our objective is to encourage the Legislature's Joint Labor & Health Committee to sponsor a bill that would increase Medicaid Reimbursement Rates for Wyoming Maternal Health Providers.

When healthcare providers offer services to people on Medicaid, they are "reimbursed" through the program at shockingly low rates. Increasing these rates for maternal care will provide more resources so that clinics and hospitals can continue to offer maternal health services.

The drafted bill, if passed by committee, will be voted on at the 2026 Budget Session.

Learn more about the background of this issue here: 

Interim spotlight: Medicaid reimbursement rates for maternal healthcare (Better Wyoming)

Delivery Deserts Series (WyoFile)

Read the proposed legislation here: Medicaid rate increase-obstetric services.

STRATEGY: NUMBERS MATTER

The Labor & Health Committee is made up of a mix of lawmakers—some align with the Freedom Caucus, while others do not. When it comes to contacting them, numbers matter.

Do not spend 20 minutes crafting your email. Instead, spend 5 minutes writing it and 15 minutes sending this link to other people in Wyoming asking them to speak up.

INSTRUCTIONS: HOW TO USE OUR FORM

The form on this page will send your email to all 14 members of the Joint Labor, Health & Social Services Committee.

You will write your own personal message on page 2 where it says "[DELETE THIS TEXT AND INSERT YOUR OWN MESSAGE HERE]".

Don't hit "Send" until you're done writing your message.

PRO TIP: The email subject is pre-filled to say "'VOTE "YES" on Medicaid Rate Increase for Obstetric Services." Change the subject to something else just slightly different, so that lawmakers can see that our messages are not spam—they are from hundreds of individuals contacting them.

 

YOUR MESSAGE

Keep it simple. Your message should contain three short parts.

1. Who you are: My name is ______. I’m a Wyoming voter and I live in _______.

2. What you want: I am writing today to ask you to vote yes on the bill to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for maternal health services

3. Why you want it: Include a few (brief!) lines about why you think this is important.

TALKING POINTS

First and foremost, our messages must be RESPECTFUL AND POLITE—not for the sake of being nice, but for the sake of being effective. Rude or angry messages will work against us!

We suggest keeping your message brief. Here are some points you might include:

Why we are asking for an INCREASE IN MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT RATES for Maternal Health Providers…

• To help prevent closures of our hospital wings, clinics, and practices due to staffing shortages and uncompensated care costs.
• To keep providers in Wyoming - ensuring these essential workers have what they need (housing, income, protection) to continue serving our communities
• To encourage providers to treat patients who are enrolled in Medicaid.

Maternity Care

• One in three births in Wyoming are covered by Medicaid
• Medicaid reimbursement rates for Wyoming are dramatically low and outdated because lawmakers have chosen not to update them to keep pace with rising costs—it’s currently 20 percent lower than market rate
• Wyoming has seen 5 closures of maternity facilities in our hospitals within 10 years: Kemmerer, Riverton, Rawlins, Evanston and, most recently, Wheatland.
• We have 17 delivery centers available for our 23 counties in Wyoming, with huge “maternity care deserts” covering much of the state.
• Many patients travel hours for basic maternity care, risking dangerous road conditions and adverse outcomes.

Provider Retention

• Many healthcare workers cannot afford to live in Wyoming counties, mostly because of low wages, lack of affordable housing, lack of amenities, and little structural support
• As a result, hospitals, clinics, and communities fail to retain providers, decreasing healthcare offerings
• Many independent providers and clinics have to choose between the survival of their small business or serving patients on programs like Medicaid which have low reimbursement rates.
• For Wyomingites who are without insurance, often those uncompensated costs are taken on by their local hospital or clinic. This impacts providers’ livelihood and the financial stability of our hospitals.

SHARE THIS LINK

No matter how passionate or reasonable your individual argument, that’s not what is going to make an impact.

Only sheer numbers have the ability to convince lawmakers who are on the fence that the people of Wyoming have their back when it comes to opposing book bans.

Send this link to 10 (or 100!) other people in Wyoming and ask them to speak up in support of ending the growing maternal care deserts!

SHARE THE LINK: https://betterwyo.org/maternal-care-call-to-action/