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Read. Follow. Verify.Wyoming Tightens Welfare Eligibility, Verification, and Reporting Rules
Last action · March 7, 2026: Assigned Chapter Number 106Sponsors: Bo Biteman and 1 other
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What This Bill Does
Wyoming enacts new restrictions and verification requirements for public assistance programs, including Medicaid, SNAP, and the POWER program, requiring stricter citizenship checks, monthly residency and death record reviews, and limitations on retroactive Medicaid eligibility.
Enrollees face more frequent benefit recertification, stricter citizenship and income verification without , and potential benefit loss if residency changes, while hospitals must collect patient citizenship data and report uncompensated care costs.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Medicaid recipients
Recipients face more frequent eligibility redeterminations, stricter residency and citizenship verification without self-attestation, and a two-month limit on retroactive coverage.
SNAP participants
Participants are subject to shorter certification periods based on income stability and stricter alien status verification requirements.
Wyoming hospitals
Hospitals must update patient admission forms to collect citizenship status, provide required notices, and submit quarterly reports on patient citizenship and uncompensated care costs.
Department of Health
The department is tasked with implementing monthly database cross-checks, managing SAVE verification, adopting new rules, and submitting annual legislative reports.
Key Facts
- Prohibits the acceptance of self-attestation for Medicaid eligibility factors including income, residency, identity, household composition, and citizenship without explicit federal mandate.
- Mandates monthly reviews of address change information and out-of-state electronic benefit transactions to identify potential residency changes among Medicaid recipients.
- Requires the department to check vital statistics and the Social Security Administration master death file monthly to promptly remove deceased persons from Medicaid and recoup post-death payments.
- Limits retroactive Medicaid eligibility to no more than two months prior to the month of application, taking effect January 1, 2027.
Show all 9 facts
- Mandates that SNAP households with zero net income or able-bodied adults without dependents be assigned certification periods of no more than four months.
- Prohibits the Department of Health from seeking, applying for, or accepting any SNAP work requirement waiver without specific legislative authorization.
- Excludes non-citizens from receiving SNAP, Medicaid, or POWER program assistance unless they meet the definition of a qualified alien.
- Requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship status question on patient registration forms and submit quarterly reports on admissions by citizenship status.
- Requires the department to submit annual public reports to the joint labor, health and social services interim committee detailing address flags, multistate removals, and fiscal impacts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often will Medicaid recipients undergo eligibility redeterminations under the new law?
What information must hospitals collect regarding patient citizenship?
Are self-attestations still allowed for Medicaid applications?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
22 actions- Mar 7, 2026Governor Signed SEA No. 0068
- Mar 7, 2026Assigned Chapter Number 106
- Mar 6, 2026SenateS Received for Concurrence
- Mar 6, 2026SenateS Concur:Passed 27-2-2-0-0
- Mar 6, 2026Assigned Number SEA No. 0068
- Mar 6, 2026SenateS President Signed SEA No. 0068
Show 16 earlier actions
- Mar 6, 2026HouseH Speaker Signed SEA No. 0068
- Mar 5, 2026HouseH 3rd Reading:Passed 55-6-1-0-0
- Mar 4, 2026HouseH 2nd Reading:Passed
- Mar 3, 2026HouseH COW:Passed
- Mar 2, 2026HouseH10 - Labor:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 9-0-0-0-0
- Mar 2, 2026HouseH Placed on General File
- Feb 25, 2026HouseH Received for Introduction
- Feb 25, 2026HouseH Introduced and Referred to H10 - Labor
- Feb 24, 2026SenateS 3rd Reading:Passed 29-2-0-0-0
- Feb 23, 2026SenateS 2nd Reading:Passed
- Feb 20, 2026SenateS COW:Passed
- Feb 16, 2026SenateS02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0
- Feb 16, 2026SenateS Placed on General File
- Feb 12, 2026SenateS Introduced and Referred to S02 - Appropriations 31-0-0-0-0
- Feb 11, 2026SenateS Received for Introduction
- Feb 10, 2026Bill Number Assigned
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Elimination of Self-Attestation for Medicaid
The state shifts from permitting applicant self-attestation for core eligibility factors to requiring mandatory independent verification prior to enrollment.
Recoupment of Post-Death Payments
Mandates monthly cross-checks with death records and requires the recoupment of any per-member or fee-for-service payments made after a recipient's date of death.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wyoleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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