Medicaid expansion • A Brigham Young University poll in 2014 showed that 76 percent of Utahns favored a significant expansion of Medicaid, covering most low-income families and individuals who otherwise could not get insurance. Gov. Gary Herbert’s Healthy Utah, covering 111,000 needy Utahns, had 43 percent approval while then-President Barack Obama’s more extensive Affordable Care Act plan had 33 percent approval, which means three-fourths of Utahns wanted a significant expansion.
Only 11 percent backed the Legislature’s plan, which would have covered 54,000. Since then, the Capitol gang became even more stingy, finally passing a plan that would covers far fewer.
So the group Utah Decides Healthcare filed papers with the lieutenant governor’s office this week to gather signatures for a ballot measure that would expand Medicaid to about 120,000 disadvantaged Utahns.