Payer Roundup—Utah takes another step toward slimmed-down Medicaid expansion

Utah’s state House has approved legislation that would scale back the number of people eligible for the voter-mandated Medicaid expansion. Voters in the state approved Medicaid expansion in the 2018 election, and under the Affordable Care Act that would allow the state’s program to add people making up to 138% of the poverty level to the rolls. However, the newly passed House tweak would cut that to 100% of the poverty level. Such a change would need to be approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services before being finalized. The state’s Senate and governor would also need to sign off on the plan. “We’re doing the very best we can, and I think we’ve got a great solution here,” Stuart Adams, president of the state’s Senate, said.