Wyoming's BearCare health plan for emergencies dies, for now

Despite grabbing headlines and lawmakers' attention, BearCare — a state-proposed health plan for covering catastrophic emergencies, like getting attacked by a bear — is dead in the water.

Wyoming's health agency had floated the idea for the emergency plan prior to this year's Legislative session. It intended to kickstart BearCare with $205 million in President Donald Trump-backed rural health transformation funds.

But Wyoming lawmakers were not on board, effectively killing the idea before it ever made it on the floor in Cheyenne.

"When they drafted the legislation in the Joint Appropriations Committee, they specified what they wanted included in it, and BearCare was not on that list," Franz Fuchs, deputy director of the Wyoming Department of Health, said Friday. "We're not going to do it unless the Legislature specifically authorizes it."

The plan's sidelining comes as Wyomingites grapple with soaring costs of health care.

"Wyoming legislators are beginning to realize that the cost of health care and the access to health care to people in their communities is making life harder," said Jenn Lowe, executive director of Healthy Wyoming. "They need to come up with some solutions."

Subsidies that made Affordable Care Act health insurance cheaper expired earlier this year, dramatically driving up prices for many people's health plans. In Wyoming, enrollment in the Obamacare Marketplace decreased by 10.9% by January, with health watchdogs warning that it may shrink further.

When "subsidies go away, [people] are obviously going to either choose to be uninsured or go to less generous plans," Fuchs said. "The full scope of that is probably going to take two months to play out."

After hearing Wyomingites' pleas for affordable health care, the department floated "BearCare." The plan would only cover catastrophic emergencies, making it cheaper since it wouldn't pay for routine care.

Getting attacked by a bear would constitute an emergency, part of the reason it was dubbed "BearCare." The name was also a play on "The Bare Necessities" song from Walt Disney's 1967 film "The Jungle Book."

"It's really just the bare bones of what's required for an emergency, or follow-up care after that bear attack," Fuchs said in November.

But during JAC deliberation, lawmakers were dubious of administering a health plan through the state. Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, said he believes Wyomingites should turn to the private sector for catastrophic coverage.

"The private sector can provide insurance at a much more efficient and low-cost way than the government can," Bear told the Jackson Hole Daily on Friday. "If people are not buying it from the private sector, they're certainly not going to buy it from the government."

Bear himself said he had purchased similar plans for most of his life. The plans didn't need to follow Obamacare standards, making them more affordable.

"Those are available, and people do purchase them," Bear said. If "they don't have that coverage, it's by choice."

Plans like BearCare don't need to follow federal health insurance requirements dictated by the Affordable Care Act, like covering 10 essential health benefits — doctors' services, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, prescription drugs and more. But health policy analysts warn that those plans could also put people at risk, given that they did not need to cover preexisting conditions and could deny coverage.

Health advocates also criticized BearCare's lack of primary care coverage, which they said could lead to health issues down the line. Though the plan didn't make it to the legislative session this year, a similar idea could come forward in the future.

"It was very clear from Chairman Bear's comments that the BearCare plan was not going to survive the committee," Lowe said. "It died a quick and painless death, at least for this session. I would say it's far from dead."

A similar plan may come forward with a different name, Lowe said.

Bear — who believed BearCare should have been spelled B-A-R-E since it covered the "bare essentials" — thought the name was a dig.

"The name was something I simply smiled and laughed about," Bear said Friday. "I assume that the governor was using that as a jab as well. But I can only assume."

Gov. Mark Gordon's office said the name BearCare came from the plan possibly protecting against catastrophic incidents, like a bear attack.

"At no time was there any conversation about Representative Bear," said Amy Edmonds, spokesperson for Gordon. "It was certainly never a jab at the representative."