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Utah's Alternative Plan for Health Care Expansion May Go Forward

The governor indicates that the federal government says there's "no deal breaker" in his proposed health-care expansion plan.

Gov. Gary Herbert said the White House and outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are inching closer to approving his alternative plan for expanding health-care for low-income Utahns through a block grant to the state, and the governor added that he’s hopeful for a resolution this summer.

 

"The encouraging comment [Sebelius] made to me was, ‘I see nothing here that would be a deal breaker,’" Herbert told The Salt Lake Tribune after leaving the White House on Tuesday.

Herbert is pitching the Obama administration on allowing a waiver under the Affordable Care Act through a plan Herbert calls Healthy Utah. His idea would be for the federal government to hand over the $258 million per year that would have gone to expanding Medicaid for low-income Utahns and let the state instead subsidize private insurance for those who qualify.

The governor’s plan includes covering the estimated 111,000 Utahns who are at or below 138 percent of the poverty level. Subsidies for the recipients would vary depending on household income, ability to work, access to other insurance and health-care needs. The recipients would have to contribute about $420 a year on average toward their ultimate health-care costs.

Herbert met with Sebelius on Monday and with White House aides on Tuesday to help coax the decision in his favor. The governor said his plan was "received extremely well," and that the administration seems on board with the general concept and is now looking at the finer details.

 

Daniel Luzer is GOVERNING's news editor.
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