Utah legislature approves definitively Medicaid's limited expansion and Governor Gary Herbert swiftly adopts it

The Medicaid extension initiative approved by Utah voters was replaced Monday by a more restrictive program, initially more expensive and subordinated to a series of uncertain federal concessions. Legislators say the bill is more economically viable in the long run.

Senators voted 22-7 to adopt the SB96 version of the House, which launches a partial extension of the drug on April 1 and would return to full expansion only if federal administrators reject multiple applications exemptions under the Affordable Care Act.

"We act responsibly in the long run," said Sen. Allen Christensen, sponsor of the bill, R-North Ogden, "to which we are bound by the constitution [state] of:"

On Monday afternoon, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed the bill. In a prepared statement, Herbert said the bill balances compassion and frugality.

"It provides quality coverage to the same population as covered by Proposition 3 in a meaningful, humane and sustainable way," Herbert said. Aside from the differences and moving forward so that the most needy are enrolled on Medicaid and on federal health care scholarships. "

Although SB96 allows the same population of Utahns to have access to subsidized health care only under Proposition 3, it does not provide coverage. Low-income Utahns earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line could have enrolled in Medicaid as part of this initiative, while SB96 caps the enrollment rate at 100% of poverty.

The remaining population, expanding, is left out. SB96 purchases subsidized health insurance plans from the Affordable Care Act subscriptions, along with premiums, copyright, deductibles, and other support costs. [19659002] The six Democrats of the Senate and a Republican, Senator Woods Cross, Todd Weiler, opposed this bill, in exchange for Senate votes on previous versions of the bill to replace the bill. Medicaid expansion.

"We still do not give the citizens of Utah they voted for," said Senator Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City. "We could do this in the other direction."

But some Republicans who oppose the expansion of Medicaid consider the bill as the lesser of the two evils. In the Senate, Republican Senator Jacob Anderegg repeatedly reiterated that he "hated" SB96 and said that those who supported the expansion of Medicaid were really motivated by the desire to put health care in place universal audiences.

And universal health care, said Anderegg, would be "the worst thing that can happen to us."

"I hate [SB96] but I will vote in his favor because I have no other choice," Anderegg said. "And yet, for the same reason, I fully recognize and acknowledge that this would correspond, in the spirit of the law, to most of what Prop 3 meant to people."

Monday's vote was criticized as "insulting" by United Utah. A political party, a centrist political organization whose goal is to appeal to dissatisfied voters from the two main parties.

In a statement, United Utah Party chairman Richard Davis said legislators had ignored research showing the economic value of a healthy population and their action on SB96.

"If anyone wonders why so many people become cynical about politics," he said, "it's enough for them to look at what the legislator did to Proposition 3." [19659002VotersinUtahhaveapprovedthreeWiththevoteonMondaylawmakershavesignificantlyalteredtwooftheseinitiativesincludingthethird-Prop4-likelytofacelegaldifficultieswiththevoteonMondaylegislativeamendmentsorboth

When the legislator turned to proposal 4 and redistricting, Senate Speaker Stuart Adams, R-Layton, declared that it was already a topic of discussion, but that there was still time before the next electoral card round. The draw takes place after the 2020 census.

"There are questions about Proposition 4 and constitutionality," Adams said.

It is to be expected that any law, that it be voted or voted This initiative will undergo adjustments, potentially in perpetuity.

"We will be working with cannabis or marijuana for the rest of our days," Adams said. "Once we have a law – a referendum or a bill before us, we will continue to work on it, probably forever."

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