This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
I attended the hearing last week for Utah Access Plus and was greatly frustrated with the set up by this "Gang of Six" and the House speaker, Greg Hughes. A lot of time and effort was done in a bipartisan task force to create the Healthy Utah program to expand Medicaid. It passed the Senate in the last legislative session and was held up from a vote in the House by the speaker.
Every poll that I have seen indicates that a majority of Utahns want Medicaid expansion so that more people can be covered for their health care. People at the hearing were begging for coverage. The speaker was wrong to hold up the vote on Healthy Utah and this new version, created by a small group of Republicans, is a bad idea.
A Democrat legislator (part of the Healthy Utah task force) stated that she had not had the opportunity to read this plan, and Rep. Jim Dunnigan's tone of voice was dismissive when he explained that it had been available for a week. When legislation comes from only one party mindset and doesn't have adequate public input, it is not good legislation.
Now the speaker has determined that 38 Republicans must vote in favor of Utah Access Plus for it to go to the full House. This makes Democrats irrelevant. If 38 Republicans do not vote for this plan, then Greg Hughes can pat himself on the back and say that it was tried, but the people do not want Medicaid expansion.
Diane Forster-Burke
Salt Lake City