Utah bid for more federal money for Medicaid expansion nixed

SALT LAKE CITY — President Donald Trump’s administration has rejected Utah’s planned request for enhanced federal funding for partial expansion of its Medicaid program, state officials said Saturday.

A statement said the White House told Utah officials late Friday that the state’s waiver request awaiting formal submission wouldn’t be approved.

The statement expressed disappointment but said the move doesn’t change the state’s April expansion of Medicaid coverage to additional low-income residents.

Instead, the administration’s position dealt with the state’s desire for the federal government to cover a larger share of the costs although Utah’s planned expansion wouldn’t extend eligibility to as many people as would the federal care overhaul.

This year Utah lawmakers scaled back the Medicaid expansion approved by voters in November.

The Trump administration has said it supports repeal and replacement of the entire Affordable Care Act and is asking federal courts to declaw the Obama-era law, which was declared unconstitutional.

A statement released Saturday by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the administration supports states’ efforts “to design innovative Medicaid demonstrations that improve outcomes and promote fiscal sustainability” but that providing enhanced federal funding “would invite continued reliance on a broken and unsustainable ‘Obamacare’ system.”

Utah lawmakers angered expansion advocates by reducing how many people would be covered. Lawmakers also added spending caps and work requirements.

No other state has gotten federal approval to receive the increased federal money without fully expanding Medicaid.

Utah’s partial expansion is expected to cover up to 90,000 people. The voter-approved law would have expanded coverage to some 150,000 people making less than about $17,200.