CHEYENNE - A proposed state constitutional amendment opening the door for caps on medical malpractice lawsuits is likely to make it out of committee when the Legislature convenes later this month, according to Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

But the amendment's overall prospects for passage by the full Legislature are hard to predict, Freudenthal told Wyoming Medical Society Director Wendy Curran on Monday.

Curran and other Medical Society officials met briefly with Freudenthal in his office to chat about issues of mutual interest likely to arise in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Feb. 9.

Freudenthal also expressed confusion about the Joint Appropriations Committee's recommended funding for Medicaid, and he backed Wyoming's term limits law, which faces a constitutional challenge from two lawmakers and two of their constituents.

Tort reform has been one of Wyoming's prominent public policy issues in recent years as the state struggles to cope with rising medical costs.

Some have suggested that the state could hold costs down by capping monetary damages in malpractice lawsuits, but Freudenthal has pointed out that such a cap would violate the state Constitution.

So he has proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to place a cap on malpractice lawsuits.

He has stressed his support for the amendment does not mean he favors a specific cap, but such an amendment is a necessary first step toward having a meaningful debate over whether Wyoming should have a cap in place.

"We'll keep working on the constitutional amendment," Freudenthal told the Medical Society officials. "I keep hearing they're going to let it out of committee."

But, he added, he is unsure how the proposal will do once it hits the floor of either chamber of the Legislature.

"At least we'll get the conversation going, and we may do better than we think," he said.

Curran said she, too, has gotten the impression the proposal, which will be introduced in the House, should make its way to the floor.

Medicaid funding appears to grow

Freudenthal said he was perplexed about the Joint Appropriations Committee's move last week to set aside an extra $35 million in General Fund dollars to cover obligations of the Medicaid Mandatory Services program.

The committee had previously voted to cut $31.5 million from Freudenthal's proposed budget for the program, including $13.3 million in General Fund spending and $18.2 million in federal funds.

But the panel later voted to allocate $35 million from the General Fund to the state auditor's office "only if it's required to meet the Medicaid Mandatory Services match, only after they've exhausted all other available resources," as Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee put it during the committee meeting.

He and legislative staffers have said the $35 million would only be spent to make sure the state meets its end of the federal-state match for the program if the match rate should change. The federal share of each dollar spent on the program is now projected to be 57.85 percent, while the state funds the rest.

Freudenthal said he would have to study the specific language of the committee's budget proposal, but it might be interpreted to indicate that the panel actually added money to Freudenthal's initial recommendation, which he said was very conservative.

"I cut that agency close to the bone," he said.

Governor backs term limits law

Freudenthal also said he supports Wyoming's term limits law, and if it is to be overturned, he would prefer that it be done by a vote of the people.

The issue arose in a separate discussion about whether Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee Chairman Charles Scott, R-Casper, would return to the Legislature next year.

"I support term limits," he said. "If you want to send me a bill to put it on the ballot, let the people change it, that's fine with me."

It is one of Wyoming's few laws passed by a vote of the people through a ballot initiative, and they passed it to send a message, Freudenthal said.

"I think term limits are fine," he said. "None of us are irreplaceable. If you're going to change it, I think you ought to let the people vote on it."

Sen. Rich Cathcart, D-Carpenter and Rep. Rodney "Pete" Anderson, R-Pine Bluffs, both of whom would be barred from running for reelection this year due to the term limits law, have sued Secretary of State Joe Meyer to have the law deemed unconstitutional, because it places conditions on holding office above and beyond those already spelled out in the state Constitution.

Scott Zimmerman and Keith Kennedy, constituents of both Cathcart and Anderson, joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs.