Utah cancels partial Medicaid request after expansion passes

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah officials are asking the federal government to cancel their request for a limited Medicaid expansion with a work requirement after voters approved a full expansion.

Kolbi Young, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health, says the state has asked federal Medicaid officials to indefinitely suspend consideration of the plan passed by Utah lawmakers earlier this year.

Utah’s plan needed a waiver because it has a work requirement and is more limited than the expansion specified by then-President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

Utah voters approved the ballot measure last week after the state’s Republican lawmakers repeatedly rejected the idea over concerns that it would force the state to cut other services to cover the cost.

The initiative will provide health care coverage to an estimated 150,000 low-income Utah residents, and it includes a sales tax increase.

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