CMS Rejects Utah’s Request for Funding for Partial Medicaid Expansion

ANCOR is sharing this article by Politico Pulse because many of the frontline staff who support people with disabilities receive health benefits through Medicaid expansion in those states which offer it.

As written by Politico Pulse:

“UTAH STILL MOVING FORWARD WITH PER-CAPITA CAPS REQUEST — The state is still seeking permission to impose per-person spending caps for certain Medicaid enrollees, even though the White House rejected a key part of its partial Medicaid expansion plan, officials said Wednesday.

The state outlined next steps just days after federal officials declined to give Utah enhanced federal funds for a partial expansion of Medicaid up to the federal poverty line — a coverage threshold lower than under the Affordable Care Act.

The move is likely to alarm consumer advocates, as well as the health care industry, which have warned that per capita caps could jeopardize care for vulnerable residents if the spending limits were ever exceeded.”

Politico Pro offered additional details:

“Utah Republicans said that even with that denial, there were several components of the proposal that they want federal officials to weigh in on, including allowing it to cap enrollment, permit 12-month continuous eligibility and remove benefits from enrollees who intentionally violate program rules.

[…]

The state will simultaneously work on a fallback plan to submit a waiver that adopts Obamacare’s full expansion of the program up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line — which voters originally approved in a ballot measure — as well as a work requirement and a requirement to stay in job-based coverage if it is available. The federal government would pay for at least 90 percent of the costs of that program.

The state must submit that waiver request to CMS by March 15 of next year.”