Update on the 2015 Legislative Session

Friday, Feb. 20, 2015

By Jean Hill

Government Liaison

Diocese of Salt Lake City 

The Diocese of Salt Lake City continues to advocate at Utah’s Capitol during the 2015 legislative session. Our top priorities this year are criminal justice reform and health care. As we wait for the package of criminal justice reforms to be released in a bill, we are advocating for certain bills that would expand health insurance coverage, and against other proposals: 

SB 164 Access to Health Care Amendments:  Sen. Brian Shiozawa is sponsoring the bill that would finally enact Governor Herbert’s Healthy Utah plan. This plan would provide access to health care for 146,000 low-income working Utahns and bring back $3.2 billion federal tax dollars to the state. The diocese supports this bill as providing an option for the poor and promoting human life and dignity.

SB 153 Access to Health Care:  Sen. Alan Christensen’s proposal would provide health care coverage to 15,000 Utahns and bring back about $300,000 in federal tax dollars. The plan covers those who qualify as “medically frail.” The diocese opposes this plan because it provides less protection for human life and dignity and represents a poor use of state and federal tax dollars.

SB 83 Medicaid Expansion Proposal:  Sen. Gene Davis proposes a full Medicaid expansion, the best plan overall.  This bill would cover the most Utahns and bring in the maximum federal tax dollars. The plan is unlikely to pass, however, for political reasons. The diocese supports this bill, but recognizes that Healthy Utah is more likely to pass.

HB 307 Medicaid Expansion Provisions:  Rep. Spendlove’s bill would be a partial Medicaid expansion and would leave thousands of Utahns uninsured. The bill would require a federal waiver, meaning the uninsured would wait many more months while Utah negotiates with the federal government. Given the details of the legislation, the federal administration is unlikely to approve of this plan. The diocese opposes this bill because it covers so few individuals.