Utah’s HB 472 is a Medicaid expansion plan destined for denial
The March 5 Arkansas expansion waiver denial is a clear indicator that Utah’s plan is a bridge to nowhere
By Stacy Stanford
The House Business and Labor committee voted last week to advance a plan to apply for a Medicaid waiver with very little chance of federal approval. HB 472 is Rep. Robert Spendlove’s Medicaid expansion plan, with the condition that Utah will receive the 90 percent federal match rate with an expansion limited to 95 percent federal poverty level, instead of the 133 percent required by existing Affordable Care Act rules. This lower income threshold would push consumers over the poverty line into the ACA’s individual market, which costs the federal government significantly more money, because private insurance — like the plans offered on the healthcare.gov marketplace — is much more expensive than Medicaid.
The Trump Administration has indicated that it intends to be consistent in Medicaid waiver approvals — if it agrees to allow or not allow one state to expand to only 95 percent, it intends to grant other states the same decision.
On March 5, after more than a year of waiting, Arkansas received an answer on its HB 472-lookalike waiver that would limit expansion to those below the poverty line — and it was not approved.
This is a clear signal to Utah that if we proceed with HB 472, we will meet the same fate.
“We have been waiting for the Arkansas decision, knowing that it would act as a bellwether for the rest of the nation,” said Matt Slonaker, executive director of Utah Health Policy Project. “Based on Arkansas, we have confirmation that HB 472 will not be approved by the Trump Administration. Passing HB 472 is like building a bridge to nowhere.”
Stacy Stanford is a health policy analyst for the Utah Health Policy Project.
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