Lawmakers approve Medicaid expansion changes over protest

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A plan to scale back the number of people covered by Utah’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion has moved one step closer to passage, despite protest from supporters.

A Senate committee voted Tuesday 6-2 to advance a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Allen Christensen that would cap enrollment at people who make up to 100 percent of the poverty line to control how much the state has to pay. The plan approved by voters capped enrollment at 138 percent.

The proposal now goes to the full Senate.

Advocates rallied on Monday urging lawmakers to leave alone a plan that would provide health care to 150,000 low-income people. They say a voter-approved sales tax increase will cover the program for at least two years, and any needed changes can come after that.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.