Salt Lake City – The Alliance for a Better Utah responded to news of cuts to the estimated coverage of Rep. Dunnigan’s Medicaid plan that was passed during the 2016 Legislative Session. Although originally estimated to cover 16,000 low-income individuals, the Utah Department of Health announced that Medicaid would be extended to only 10,000 individuals, leaving another 6,000 Utahns without access to healthcare. Rachel Sanders, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Utah, issued the following statement in response:
“Unfortunately, this news really is not shocking or unexpected. Our organization and others always maintained that Rep. Dunnigan’s plan was inadequate, was overly expensive on a per-individual basis, and would leave too many Utahns without the access to healthcare they need and deserve.”
“The Utah legislature passed Rep. Dunnigan’s bill, and the Governor signed it. Now they need to own the responsibility for withholding healthcare access and coverage to so many Utahns while diverting millions of dollars to frivolous lawsuits, over-priced pipelines, and out-of-state coal ports. We encourage those in the legislature who fought tirelessly for the Governor’s original Healthy Utah plan or for full expansion to reintroduce those proposals immediately. Utahns deserve better. Utahns deserve to see their tax dollars coming back from Washington to serve the needs of those who live here in our state.”
###