This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Gary Herbert called the Legislature's plan for medical care for poor Utahns "illogical." He was correct. Now he proposes to take less than half the federal money available and funnel it through private insurance companies, which will skim 17-20 percent off the top.
Dollars available for medical care delivered this way would be about 40 percent of what would be made available by expanding Medicaid.
If you want to see more illogical, Governor, look in a mirror.
The real reason not to simply expand Medicaid is to spite President Obama. The Republicans have said that they oppose the ACA because it won't work. I think their leaders actually are terrified that it will work, and that damn black Democratic president will get the credit. Far better to sacrifice jobs, economic growth and Utah's working poor than allow that!
And it's absurd, because the political battle to stop the ACA is already lost. In many states it is now working well and reducing costs. Late adopters, including some Republican states, should get it up and running within a year.
Perhaps Utah's dinosaurs will accept this reality this some day. How many of Utah's working poor will die while they figure it out?
Brooke Jennings
Salt Lake City