This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

— Medicaid works — Toledo (Ohio) Blade Editorial

"Two years ago, when Gov. John Kasich expanded Medicaid to include hundreds of thousands of working-poor Ohioans who couldn't otherwise afford health insurance, extremist opponents warned — and continue to claim — that the results would be runaway medical costs, unbearable tax burdens, and state indebtedness.

"Yet data on the first 18 months of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, in Ohio and nationally, suggest they're wrong. In the past fiscal year, Medicaid enrolled 150,000 more newly eligible Ohioans than expected. Yet Medicaid spending was nearly $2 billion below estimates, 7.6 percent of the state Medicaid budget. Kasich administration officials attribute this achievement to efficiencies in the system and a greater emphasis on treating diseases before they become more costly. ..."

Add a penny to a loaf of bread, get health care for nearly everyone? Shouldn't be necessary, but, shoot, it beats another year of unconscionable delay.

— Small tax could end long delay — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"If it would end more than three years of inexcusable delay in expanding health care access to the many thousands of Utahns who now lack that basic component of civilized life, then perhaps a penny's more sales tax on a loaf of bread might be a small price to pay.

"But a proposed boost in the state's sales tax on groceries won't help anyone if it becomes a poison pill for health care expansion. ..."

— Taxing food one option being floated for Utah Medicaid expansion — Robert Gehrke | The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... Greg Bell, president and CEO of the Utah Hospital Association, said the food-tax proposal to finance the Medicaid expansion was one of the ideas his group floated early on — the rationale being that low-income Utahns would benefit much more by having health insurance than they would by saving a few dollars on their grocery bill. ..."

— More than an inconvenience: Over 100 @#utahns die each year b/c they lack insurance — Health Affairs Blog (via Utah Health Policy Project)

— Judge allows Alaska governor to move ahead with Medicaid expansion — The Washington Post

" ... On Monday, Alaska's legislative council sued the governor to try to block the expansion, arguing that only the legislature had the power to decide who was eligible for the program. Lawmakers asked a judge to issue a temporary order to block the start of sign-ups for Alaskans who qualify for the first time.

"On Friday, Superior Court Judge Frank A. Pfiffner turned down that request. The judge said the legislators who objected had not proved so far that starting to expand the program would cause the state 'irreparable harm' or that the governor had clearly overstepped his authority. ..."

— Medicaid Drives Historic Coverage Gains In Colorado — Katie Kerwin McCrimmon | Health News Colorado

"Colorado's uninsured rate has plummeted from a recent high of 15.8 percent four years ago to 6.7 percent this year, and the success of the Affordable Care Act in Colorado is almost entirely the result of Medicaid expansion, according to a much anticipated survey from the Colorado Health Institute. ..."

— A 50-State Look at Medicaid Expansion — Families USA

Accepting Medicaid expansion: 31 (including D.C.)

Rejecting Medicaid expansion: 19

Still considering it: 1 (Utah)