A House committee on Wednesday rejected a plan to extend health care coverage to 126,000 Utahns and supported a plan critics say will cost the state more money to bring health care to less people.
One Tooele County Commissioner prefers the rejected plan because it would save the county more money.
The House Business and Labor Committee turned down Senate Bill 164 with a 9 to 4 vote in a meeting held Wednesday night at the state Capitol.
SB 164 would have enacted a revision of Gov. Gary Herbert’s proposal to extend health care to Utahns living at or below 138 percent of the poverty level.
Herbert has dubbed his revised plan as “Healthy Utah 2.0.”
After spurning Healthy Utah 2.0, the committee voted 9 to 4 to support a health care plan sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep, James Dunnigan, R-Taylorville.
Dunnigan’s plan, contained in House Bill 446, will extend health care to Utahns living at or below the poverty level.
Dunnigan calls his plan “Utah Cares.”
Following last night’s committee meeting, House Speaker Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, issued the following statement: “The Utah Cares proposal is a responsible, sustainable generational decision that covers all those in the gap created by the Affordable Health Care Act, without expanding into Obamacare.”
Both of the divergent health care plans are designed to provide affordable health care for people in a gap between assistance under the Affordable Care Act and being able to afford private insurance premiums.
Herbert’s Healthy Utah 2.0 plan would cover 126,000 people and cost the state $254 million over the next two years while bringing in $960 million in federal funds, according to the governor’s office.
The Utah Cares Plan will cost the state $63.8 million and bring in $165.2 million from the federal government, according to the fiscal note for HB 446 prepared by legislative staff.
House leadership is skeptical of jumping into a larger plan based on the promise of federal funding, according to Dunnigan.
“While the House plan is better than nothing, the plan that brings coverage to the most people will save the county more money” said Tooele County Commissioner Myron Bateman,
The county health department pays for vaccinations and other services for people without insurance. The county also pays out for mental health treatment for the uninsured and inmates in the county jail, according to Bateman, who is the past director of the county health department.
Health insurance premiums for the county and local businesses would also decline with more people on health insurance, according to Bateman.
“Medical offices and insurance companies have to raise their rates to cover their losses when they treat people that can’t pay,” Bateman said. “With more people on insurance there will be less non-pays leading to lower insurance costs.”
Herbert responded to the House Business and Labor Committee vote on Healthy Utah 2.0 with a statement issued last night from his communications director, Marty Carpenter.
The statement read, “Healthy Utah is the best plan for taxpayers and the most practical alternative to Medicaid expansion. There is sharp contrast in terms of cost and coverage between the plans supported by the House committee and the Senate. The governor looks forward to working with the Legislature on a solution that best protects the interests of the Utah taxpayer and provides necessary coverage for Utahns in need.”
A debate on the full House floor will be scheduled for HB446, according to Hughes. If approved the bill will go to the Senate. The legislative session comes to an end one week from today on March 12.