Wyoming health insurance market study.

HB 161 requires Wyoming's health, insurance, and administration departments to conduct a study on health insurance markets, focusing on options that could lower costs for vulnerable groups like small businesses, rural residents, and early retirees. The study will examine three specific mechanisms: whether non-state residents could join the state employees' insurance plan (paying full costs), feasibility of a state reinsurance program to stabilize premiums, and strategies used by other low-population states. Crucially, the study is strictly advisory - no new programs, subsidies, or mandates will be created, and it explicitly prohibits expanding Medicaid or public assistance. The $250,000 study must be completed by October 2026, with findings reported to the legislature.