Six in 10 Utahns support citizen effort to expand Medicaid: Survey

Nearly six in 10 Utahns support a citizen-initiative petition to expand Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, under Obamacare, according to a recent survey.

The survey by Dan Jones and Associates said 59 percent support expansion to some degree, while 36 percent either strongly or somewhat oppose the idea and 4 percent aren’t sure.

Utah is among 18 states that have refused to embrace a part of the Affordable Care Act that extended Medicaid benefits to those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — a provision the Supreme Court made optional in its landmark Obamacare ruling five years ago.

The federal government pays for nearly all of the expanded population, a share that will ratchet down to 90 percent in 2020 and beyond, yet GOP leaders in holdout states say their share would still bust state budgets down the road.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, put forward a plan to expand Medicaid, yet the state House refused it and proposed a limited expansion plan that would cost the state less money.

With Capitol Hill Republicans failing to scrap Obamacare this past year, a group of citizens started to a petition drive to fully expand Medicaid as envisioned by the 2010 law.

Dan Jones and Associates found that women were more likely than men to support a boost in public health benefits, 62 percent versus 56 percent.

Republicans oppose the petition — 48 percent to 46 percent — though Democrats are very supportive of it, 93-7 percent, and independents back it, 62-33 percent.

Maine voters approved a Medicaid-expansion initiative in November.

Yet Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who opposed the ballot measure, said he will refuse to implement the expansion unless lawmakers can find a way to pay for it without raising state taxes.