On Tuesday, Utah’s legislative Republicans met in caucus with the so-called Gang of Six to discuss UtahAccess+, the latest attempt to expand Medicaid. The meeting was closed to the public and the media, a move which drew criticism from Democrats and others.
State Democratic Party chair Peter Corroon said that the meeting should have been open and that opponents of Medicaid expansion have already been pushing legislators to reject the new plan.
“The legislature should be doing its business in public. Some of our state legislators should have been let into that meeting; Sen. Gene Davis who’s been working on Medicaid expansion, Rep. Patrice Arent, Rep. Brian King, and Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck,” Corroon said. “We thought there was some headway with the governor’s plan, Healthy Utah, and then we had a group from the outside, Americans for Prosperity, a Florida-based political committee and they are putting the pressure on them not to support Medicaid expansion. We don’t want outside forces, we can make a decision on our own.”
GOP legislative leaders claim that the new plan will close the coverage gap, currently an estimated 53,000 Utahns. Evelyn Everton of the Utah chapter of Americans for Prosperity said that UtahAccess+ has not resolved persistent cost issues.
“By putting that extra cost onto these doctors and hospitals, that extra cost doesn’t get paid for by the doctors, it actually will be pushed down to the patients,” Everton said. “Some of the major problems that the previous plans had have not really been addressed. Now, it’s really going to just add extra costs to our healthcare system.”
Attempts at expanding Medicaid have failed every year since the Affordable Care Act became law.
