Wyoming Senate Considers Senate File 106 to Track Uncompensated Care in SAVE System

(WYOMING) — Wyoming lawmakers weighed Senate File 106, a proposal that expands citizenship or residency checks for food assistance applicants and requires hospitals to file new annual reports on uncompensated care tied to noncitizens or undocumented patients.

SF 106, titled “Welfare Fraud Prevention Act Amendments,” directs the Wyoming Department of Family Services to verify citizenship or residency status for every SNAP applicant using the federal SAVE system. The bill also mandates Wyoming hospitals to submit de-identified data on uncompensated care costs for noncitizens or undocumented patients to the state health department.

The legislation combines two policy tracks that touch both public benefits and the health system, linking eligibility verification to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, known as the SAVE system. It also creates a new reporting pipeline intended to quantify uncompensated care associated with noncitizen or undocumented patients, while requiring the data to be de-identified.

Wyoming already meets federal SAVE requirements voluntarily. SF 106 would write that approach into state law and broaden when the checks occur, shifting from a targeted practice to a statewide requirement that applies across SNAP enrollment and recertification.

Under current practice, Wyoming DFS runs SAVE checks via U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services only for SNAP applicants who self-identify as noncitizens or were born outside the U.S. SF 106 expands that by requiring SAVE verification for all applicants, both when they enroll and when they recertify.

DFS policy manuals already require verification of alien eligibility with primary or secondary documents. The manuals provide at least 10 days for immigrants to submit proof of status without delaying benefits beyond 30 days if otherwise eligible.

By applying the SAVE system to every applicant at enrollment and during recertification, SF 106 sets a uniform verification trigger in statute rather than limiting checks to people who disclose noncitizenship status or a foreign birth. The change would put the SAVE system at the center of Wyoming’s SNAP screening process, instead of reserving it for a narrower set of cases.

The hospital provision requires annual reporting of uncompensated care costs for noncitizens or undocumented individuals. Hospitals would submit de-identified reports to the state health department, which aggregates the information for the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.

The bill frames de-identification as a way to obscure personally identifiable and protected health information, with the stated intent of encouraging care-seeking. Lawmakers adopted amendments that reduced the reporting frequency from quarterly to annual and added confidentiality protections, changes advanced after input from the Wyoming Hospital Association.

Eric Boley, Wyoming Hospital Association President, noted a Medicaid fund covers emergency care and childbirth for undocumented patients. Boley also noted hospitals may bill more cases with education.

As of March 6, 2026, SF 106 remained under consideration in the 2026 Wyoming legislative session. The adopted amendments responded to hospital concerns by reducing how often facilities must report and by adding confidentiality protections tied to the de-identified uncompensated-care reporting.

The measure arrives as Wyoming officials pursue other changes affecting SNAP. Governor Mark Gordon signed a separate executive action on March 4, 2026, banning SNAP purchases of sweetened carbonated beverages and candy starting February 2027.

Wyoming’s health coverage rules provide additional context for the hospital-reporting component of SF 106. The state provides Medicaid for lawfully residing pregnant people regardless of entry date, but does not cover undocumented adults broadly.