Utah Legislators Reject Medicaid Plan

Legislators in Utah have rejected Governor Gary Herbert's alternative plan to providing Medicaid expansion to low-income Utah residents in favor of two even more limited proposals, The Salt Lake Tribune's Kristen Moulton reports. The Legislature’s Health Reform Task Force "proposed recommending options that would cover between 12.5 percent and 20 percent of those below the federal poverty line — but only those who are mentally ill, addicted, disabled or too sick to work," Moulton reports. The governor's plan would cover 46,000 people.

David Patton, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, told Moulton he is still hopeful that the full Legislature will pass Medicaid expansion.