Ballot initiatives to add people to Medicaid rolls are picking up steam after the White House squashed Utah’s effort to go halfway in expanding the low-income health program.
Several states that declined to expand their Medicaid coverage fully—to adults making 138% of the federal poverty level—asked the Trump administration to approve scaled-back versions. They were told no. Advocates and analysts see the administration’s rejection as a new opportunity for putting expanded Medicaid before voters.
Five non-expansion states where voters haven’t already weighed in—South Dakota, Mississippi, Wyoming, Florida, and Missouri—allow residents to vote on locally-led ballot questions. Their Republican governors have ...