Utah Medicaid expansion creates chaos in the wake of federal cuts.

–Politics and Opinion–

Hard thing to deal with the level of corruption in Utah. Systemic corruption cannot survive any shift in personnel layoffs combined with cuts to federal funding. Utah social services is basically collapsing under the weight of its own dubious practices. Recent federal changes quickly moving the financial gears of the nation are slated to only jam the wheels of Utah.

Utah Medicaid and Welfare for Utah, known as the Department of Workforce Services, has been talking about not covering medical bills for children from impoverished families. They report that 50% of their Medicaid users are children and that benefits will be affected by recent federal cuts. Some that have received food stamps in the past now get $0 EBT balances. The Utah DWS website has had significantly greater downtimes and disruptions since the January 28 confusion of a federal treasury freeze by President Trump.

Utah did not actively implement Medicaid expansion despite a vote that overwhelmingly asked for it. https://ballotpedia.org/Utah_Proposition_3,_Medicaid_Expansion_Initiative_(2018)

The state tied up their implementation process in legislative channels while revamping their Department of Workforce Services. It is unknown if they accepted the federal dollars for a limited expansion while not expanding medical coverage for state citizens. Many Utah residents who pay a “spend-down” fee for their Medicaid benefits have not seen any relief in the 7 years since expansion was voted in and greater federal funding approved.