Groups worried as Utah rolls out partial Medicaid expansion

Utah is now rolling out a partial Medicaid expansion, but health care advocates say they’re worried the scaled-back version of a voter-approved law will leave thousands of people behind.

Stacy Stanford with the Utah Health Policy Project said Monday while they’re glad the expansion will cover up to 90,000 more people, she’s worried about the people who can’t get Medicaid coverage under the changes approved by lawmakers.

They have access to subsidized coverage on the federal health care exchanges, but Stanford says those plans aren’t always affordable.

Her group is also concerned about work requirements and caps on enrollment and spending. Lawmakers say those changes are needed to keep costs under control.

Republican Rep. Jim Dunnigan says scaling back the full Medicaid expansion makes the program sustainable.