MEDICAID/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTING: “The Trump administration on Friday [3-29-19] granted a Utah request for a more limited Medicaid expansion, effectively short-circuiting a ballot measure approved by voters in November. The approval allows Utah to expand its program to those who earn up to 100% of the poverty level, or about $12,500 for an individual and $25,750 for a family of four. Under Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion provision, states have extended health insurance to those making up to 138% of the poverty level. Also notable is that Utah can now cap enrollment of newly eligible residents if state funding runs out; currently, Medicaid must accept anyone who qualifies. And the approval does not provide the higher level of federal funding that accompanies full expansion under Obamacare, though Utah officials have said they intend to seek the enhanced match soon. Several red states are looking to partially expand Medicaid, but want the richer support from Washington, DC, for the newly qualified. The approval is the latest step in a busy health care week for the Trump administration. On Monday, the Justice Department said the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down in a filing with a federal appeals court, a dramatic reversal of a stance it took last year. Two days later, a federal district court judge blocked the administration’s efforts to allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.”
–Tami Luhby, “Trump administration allows Utah to curtail voter-approved Medicaid expansion,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, March 29, 2019 7:31 pm