Ignoring will of voters, Utah officials press Trump administration for limited Medicaid expansion
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Immediately after the voters of Utah passed a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, state officials pressed the Trump administration to approve the state's waiver request to limit expansion, according to correspondence PoliticoIgnoring will of voters, Utah officials press Trump administration for limited Medicaid expansion
Immediately after the voters of Utah passed a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, state officials pressed the Trump administration to approve the state's waiver request to limit expansion, according to correspondence Politico has obtained through public records. After voters approved a full expansion with 53 percent of the vote, Utah officials were pressuring the administration to approve the existing waiver request, completely ignoring the will of the voters. Earlier this month Utah Republicans passed legislation mirroring their waiver request and including significant restrictions on the program, including enrollment caps and per-person limits on spending that were not part of the full Medicaid expansion voted on by the people. These would also be the most extreme restrictions ever granted on the program, if the administration agrees. Rather than the 150,000 people voters elected to cover, this legislation would cover about 90,000. The state first applied for a partial expansion last summer, and Republican lawmakers insist that the administration has provided assurances that it will receive it, though the documents Politico has reviewed, including correspondence between the administration and the state, don't reflect that. What they do show is that «the state, shortly after the election, ramped up pressure on the Trump administration to decide whether to allow partial expansions.» Utah Medicaid Director Nathan Checketts wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Nov. 20, saying that he was aware that «the state's request would be something new for CMS and represents a significant policy decision» and «we understand why CMS has taken time to review and consider the state's request. […] Even if CMS is not able to approve this request, our policy makers will benefit from knowing which options are (or are not) likely to be approved.» As if the vote-passed ballot initiative simply didn't exist! No waiver at all has to be granted from the administration for the state to do what it's supposed to and implement the law as passed by its citizens. What the state is trying to do might very well be illegal under Medicaid statute, and it's just asking for litigation. Nate Crippes, an attorney at the Disability Law Center, basically promises it. «I would be very, very surprised if that wasn't challenged,» he said. Read more