WyoFile joins Week 3 of Wyoming PBS Capitol Outlook

By WyoFile staff
— March 4, 2014
Capitol Outlook Week Three
The reporter roundtable discussed education, Medicaid, and savings in the state budget. From left to right, Geoff O’Gara, Bob Beck, Reed Eckhardt, and Gregory Nickerson. (Wyoming PBS — click to enlarge)
The reporter roundtable discussed education, Medicaid, and savings in the state budget. From left to right, Geoff O’Gara, Bob Beck, Reed Eckhardt, and Gregory Nickerson. (Wyoming PBS — click to enlarge)

The third episode of Capitol Outlook aired on Wyoming PBS last Friday evening. This week’s program featured segments with WyoFile reporter Gregory Nickerson and columnist Kerry Drake.

In the “Fresh Brewed” segment, Nickerson joined a roundtable with host Geoff O’Gara, along with Bob Beck of Wyoming Public Radio and Reed Eckhardt of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Together the group discussed education, Medicaid expansion, and budget savings policy.

“You might be able to say that the top priority of the legislature is savings,” Nickerson said. In the coming biennium Wyoming could put $700 million into the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, according to projections.

Columnist Kerry Drake discussed his personal experience with falling into the Medicaid gap in a segment with host Geoff O’Gara. Speaking of the legislature’s resistance to expanding Medicaid, Drake said, “Either people aren’t educated about it, or they just don’t care.” Drake first described his story in a WyoFile column earlier this year.

To watch the roundtable, navigate to 39:40 to 47:40 in the embedded video.

Kerry Drake’s discussion with O’Gara runs from 47:40 to 56:30.

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  1. Re: Medicare, it’s not that legislators aren’t educated about the issue or just don’t care about it. It’s that they’re actively malevolent against the poor.

    RH