A statewide ban on flavored nicotine candy failed in House Business and Labor Committee on Friday. Representative Paul Ray’s bill would have banned stores from selling gum, dissolving strips and other candy-like products that have not been approved by the FDA for helping someone quit smoking. A frustrated Ray addressed his supporters in the hallway after his bill was voted down.
The Utah Senate gave bipartisan support yesterday to a state lawmaker’s plan to reign in Medicaid spending. Republican Senator Dan Liljenquist’s bill restructures the program to move away from paying providers a fee for every service they perform, which he says encourages doctors to run more tests and do more procedures than necessary. He’s equated increasing Medicaid costs to Pacman, eating away at Utah’s budget.
While the federal health reform law’s mandate to purchase health insurance may be getting the most attention, some Utah lawmakers are focusing on another aspect of it: expanding eligibility for Medicaid, the government-funded health program for low-income Americans. Hoping to get ahead of this, Republican State Senator Dan Liljenquist, who spearheaded major reforms to Utah’s public pension system last year, is proposing changes to how Medicaid providers are compensated.
Utah’s Medicaid system is getting a much needed $3.5 million boost from two pharmaceutical companies who inflated their costs so heavily, Utah sued.
After a judicial victory in Florida for conservatives who oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff now says it can’t be enforced in Utah. But the governor isn’t sure yet where to go on this issue. We talked with Chief Deputy Attorney General John Swallow about what this ruling means.
The Utah House of Representatives passed a bill today that creates a pilot program requiring less than 100 people to perform community service as a condition of receiving Medicaid benefits.
One plan to help the state meet a proposed seven percent budget cut would hit college students in the pocket book. A potential bill discussed in the legislature Monday would trim Medicaid costs by requiring them to get health insurance. As KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, some lawmakers believe pregnant college students shouldn’t be using the program.
Wendell Potter used to be a top executive at a major health insurance corporation, CIGNA. Now, he’s trying to get the word out about the industry’s abuses, and how it’s heavily shaping the health care debate in Washington. We talked with him about his new book, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.
Social service advocates gathered at the Utah Capitol’s dumpster Tuesday, hoping to send the message to lawmakers that there are no disposable members of society. The group held signs and handwritten letters protesting expected cuts to health and human services.
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Utah’s Division of Services for People with Disabilities. It stems from a complaint from the Salt Lake City based Disabled Rights Action Committee. The group says Utahns with disabilities are being forced to stay in a nursing home for several months if they want to receive care, and that violates federal law.
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