-- More Wyomingites enrolling in marketplace health insurance

-- Help available as Medicaid unwinding wraps up

-- Frequently asked questions about healthcare sharing ministries

-- Upcoming events

Enroll Wyoming guides a lot of people through the health insurance marketplace, where consumers can see if they qualify for quality health coverage. Updated numbers show that more than 42,000 residents signed up during the last open enrollment season. If you put them all together, they'd form the third-largest city in Wyoming, based on U.S. Census estimates.

Twenty-two out of 23 counties showed significant growth over last years’ enrollment numbers. While open enrollment doesn't resume until November, you can reach out to an Enroll Wyoming navigator for free to see if you qualify for special enrollment or increase your understanding of your options. Just visit enrollwyo.org or call 211.

The Wyoming Department of Health faced a challenge a year ago. Under a process known as "Medicaid unwinding," it needed to restart reviews to see if people were still eligible to re-enroll in the program. The annual reviews were paused for years as part of pandemic relief, and while this was a return to normal, many families had never gone through the process before.

The WDH partnered with groups like Enroll Wyoming to spread the word about unwinding and let people know there were free resources available to help people re-enroll or find alternative coverage if they did not qualify.

Now that the process is wrapping up, the next season of renewals should commence without any expected changes. Additionally, Enroll Wyoming remains available to help families who lose Medicaid or CHIP coverage. For more information, including details on the extended special enrollment period, click here.

A public service announcement from the Wyoming Department of Insurance reminded people that there are products like healthcare sharing ministries that are not considered insurance and therefore are not required to include the same protections that apply to fully insured health plans.

For more information on healthcare sharing ministries, including how they work and how they may not cover every medical cost,

click here.

Are healthcare sharing ministries considered insurance?

No. Health ministries are considered faith-based nonprofit organizations. HCSM do not provide comprehensive coverage and are not federally subsidized.

How does a healthcare sharing ministry work?

Each member of the HCSM pays a monthly membership fee. These monthly fees are generally less expensive than regular insurance premiums. The collected fees are pooled and distributed directly to members who need to pay qualifying medical bills. What a “qualifying” bill is depends on the ministry and is not regulated by the state or federal government.

Do healthcare sharing ministries cover every medical cost?

No. What costs are covered are completely up to the individual ministries. Since HCSM are not insurance, they do not generally have “in network” providers and may subject members to higher healthcare bills. Legally, HCSM do not have to provide funding to cover medical claims submitted by HCSM members and any funding provided to members is provided voluntarily by the HCSM. Lack of payment from the HCSM often leads to individuals negotiation prices with hospital billing and/or applying for charity care.

For more information on healthcare sharing ministries, read this article. 

We regularly update multiple calendars. To find specific Enroll Wyoming events, see our Wyoming 211 calendar. For partner and community events, click here.