Roughly 58,000 Utah residents would gain Medicaid coverage if the state expands its program in 2014. In the report, Intermountain spokesperson Daron Cowley said the health system backed the UHA’s decision to not endorse expanding Medicaid because there are many “practical and political questions around the full expansion that have yet to be answered.”
Many hospital groups, including the American Hospital Association, have backed the Medicaid expansion, saying Medicaid reimbursement is better than no reimbursement at all. Hospitals collectively take on billions of dollars in uncompensated care costs every year.
However, the UHA and Intermountain were wary if an expansion of Medicaid could “hurt employer coverage further and prove to be difficult for the state to sustain in the years ahead,” according to the report.
More Articles on Medicaid Expansion:
The Medicaid Expansion: Opportunities and Challenges for Hospitals
For-Profit Hospital Chains Could Lose Billions Without Medicaid Expansion
