Enrollment in Utah’s partially-expanded Medicaid program has grown to roughly 29,000 low-income residents, the state’s Medicaid director said Wednesday, with new applications screened on a “day-by-day” basis.
“We haven’t had, like, a spike or an explosion,” Nathan Checketts said. “It’s been a steady growth.”
Between 70,000 and 90,000 Utahns are estimated to be eligible for the program, which provides health care coverage to those earning up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Checketts said it could take up to a year to reach the 70,000 figure, and five years to enroll 90,000 Utahns.
Another 40,000 to 50,000 Utahns could have enrolled in Medicaid under Proposition 3, a full-expansion program approved by voters in November that was subsequently rejected by lawmakers in favor of a more restrictive program.