Advocates warned that Medicaid cuts and new rules will have dire consequences for vulnerable Utahns.The new rules would require specific work requirements and twice-a-year eligibility checks.Proposed cuts threaten the Targeted Adult Medicaid program that has helped thousands of residents.<\/p>\n
Sixty-one years after Medicaid was created to provide safety-net access to healthcare for vulnerable Americans, the program has sustained the biggest cuts in its history. And that has advocates for low-income children and adults, as well as for people with disabilities, warning that lost coverage will not only hurt them but also strain hospitals and care providers, taxpayers and others.<\/p>\n
The Protect Medicaid Utah Coalition warned Thursday in a news conference cosponsored with United Today Stronger Tomorrow at Sacred Circle Healthcare in Salt Lake City that the consequences could be worse even than predicted, threatening tens of thousands of Utahns. Speakers said the 300 pages of new rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services \u2014 with the comment period ending Friday \u2014 are much more stringent than those passed by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act or HR 1.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re urging lawmakers to dial it back and protect a program designed to protect the most vulnerable Americans.<\/p>\n
Among changes to Medicaid, the bill cuts funding significantly over the course of a decade. But it also changes program requirements, adding specific work requirements, twice-a-year eligibility checks and alterations on provider taxes that some states use to meet the matching funds requirement. Medicaid is primarily funded by the federal government, but states each have to match based on a percentage that varies based on a federal formula.<\/p>\n
Since Medicaid was created, the program has \u201cenabled stability and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of Utah families across every corner of our state,\u201d said Rachel Craig of the Association for Utah Community Health. \u201cThe creation of Medicaid was a momentous step in our country\u2019s commitment to ensuring affordable healthcare access for all, regardless of where you live or how much money you have.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted that community and rural health clinics provide accessible and low-cost primary care services to the state\u2019s underserved communities, as well as other services. Besides bolstering health, it provides financial stability for patients and the clinics themselves, she said.<\/p>\n
Impact of new Medicaid rules<\/p>\n
There are several chief complaints about the cuts and the proposed rules, including work requirements and reporting verification that will be difficult and time-consuming and, for some, undoable.<\/p>\n
Said Craig, \u201cNew requirements will cut tens of thousands of Utahns off from healthcare by forcing harsh work reporting requirements, despite the fact that the vast majority of Utahns on Medicaid either already work \u2014 in many cases multiple jobs \u2014 or otherwise qualify for exemptions due to disability.” <\/p>\n
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A sign is displayed during a press conference concerning the need to protect Medicaid in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 30, 2026. Advocates and Medicaid recipients discussed the real-world consequences of the 2025 \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,\u201d which enacted the largest cuts to federal Medicaid funding in the program\u2019s history. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News <\/p>\n
New requirements could make it harder for people on Medicaid to work if their health suffers because of critical cuts. The impact could be strongest in rural areas, where services are already not robust enough to meet the need and people sometimes have to travel long distances to access care, among other challenges.<\/p>\n
A physician\u2019s view<\/p>\n
Dr. Suzanne Harrison is both a physician and a Salt Lake County Council member. She didn\u2019t mince words about the value that Medicaid provides to those with extremely low incomes or who experience chronic homelessness. She said proposed cuts threaten to wind back the good work the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature had done creating Targeted Adult Medicaid to provide uninterrupted healthcare for those Utahns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program provides a stable foundation, and it has enabled thousands of Utahns to get off the streets and maintain sobriety and reenter the workforce,\u201d she said. \u201cThis program works. The new federal cuts in HR 1 and additional cuts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will eliminate this program, setting our state\u2019s efforts to end chronic homelessness backwards and shifting costs to local governments and ultimately local taxpayers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Harrison warned that Medicaid cuts that \u201csaddle local governments and taxpayers with more costs will make citizens less healthy and streets less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking for the Disability Law Center, Nate Crippes noted the very recent 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was created to help those with disabilities live in a society that fully includes them. He said that those most affected by the cuts are neighbors, friends, family members and those living with disabilities. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are people striving to work, contribute to their communities and live independently. We were told repeatedly during the debates around HR 1 that the cuts would not impact disabilities, but the latest interim final rule makes clear that people with disabilities will disproportionately be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Crippes, \u201cThe rule goes much further than the law required and will definitely lead to people losing access to coverage. If we are serious about ensuring that Utahns with disabilities can lead self-directed lives, participate fully in their communities, and enjoy the opportunities promised by the ADA, then we must protect the Medicaid services that make those goals possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The view where rubber and road meet ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PYBBGBHVWRHHJGQFHJ3PTEZ4UI.JPG\")
Lorena Horse, executive officer at Sacred Circle Healthcare, speaks during a press conference concerning the need to protect Medicaid in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 30, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News <\/p>\n
Lorena Horse, executive officer of Sacred Circle Healthcare, which is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, said Medicaid allows individuals to get preventive care and manage chronic conditions, saving both money and suffering.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedicaid is more than just an insurance program,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s an investment in health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horse said that Utah has invested both time and resources to building a Medicaid program that improves healthcare access across both urban and rural communities, allowing people to \u201cremain healthy, employed and engaged in their families and our communities.\u201d Weakening the programs undermines efforts to keep the program and its participants healthy. <\/p>\n
\u201cReductions in Medicaid funding does not eliminate healthcare needs,\u201d she said. Rather, \u201dit simply shifts costs to emergency rooms, hospitals and taxpayers in other areas.”<\/p>\n
She also cited the cost of more paperwork, more frequent eligibility reviews and more complicated applications \u2014 barriers with \u201csignificant negative health and community consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronnie Bateman, who established Bateman Public Health to help domestic violence survivors navigate divorce and child custody cases, has seen firsthand how Medicaid helps put lives back together by allowing them to get care, including mental health services and needed physical help, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lack of medical coverage is just one barrier among many that prevents domestic violence victims from leaving their abusers,\u201d she said. She added that she knows people who have not even tried \u201cbecause the upfront administrative burden was too great.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Medicaid recipients say<\/p>\n
Two Medicaid recipients addressed their own challenges directly.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ULD5TKG3RZDJJD55QNNVOFQHOQ.JPG\")
Child welfare advocate Ronni Bateman, Medicaid recipient Brenda Oluwalana and substitute teacher Stephanie Foster attend a press conference concerning the need to protect Medicaid in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 30, 2026. Advocates and Medicaid recipients discussed the real-world consequences of the 2025 \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,\u201d which enacted the largest cuts to federal Medicaid funding in the program\u2019s history. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News <\/p>\n
Brenda Oluwalana, of West Valley City, can see because Medicaid and \u201cthe doctors I would never be able to access without it\u201d provided eye care when she had a series of retina tears and other eye problems. \u201cMedicaid was there\u201d for the follow-up visits and interventions, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of continuous, unglamorous care is exactly what people don\u2019t see when they picture Medicaid cuts as a line on a budget,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t see the follow-up appointments that detect the second detachment and prevent future ones\u201d or the \u201cdevice that keeps the pressure in someone\u2019s eye correctly calibrated for years after.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oluwalana agrees with the notion that close to $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade will lead millions nationally to lose coverage, \u201cmany simply because of new paperwork, twice-a-year eligibility checks and cumbersome new reporting requirements, not because they don\u2019t qualify for it or they don\u2019t need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie Foster works as a substitute teacher and said the cuts and proposed paperwork make verifying eligibility especially challenging in her job. Her income fluctuates. And because school is out during the summer, she would not meet requirements unless she got a temporary job, which she has tried to do. The way the paperwork is crafted creates an untrue view of her situation, where she has to apply and reapply and it looks like she\u2019s jumping from job to job, she said.<\/p>\n
Harrison said some law enforcement organizations and members of the Salt Lake County Council signed letters asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reverse the decision to end waivers that allow programs such as Utah\u2019s Targeted Adult Medicaid, which has been a lifesaver and life changer for those who are experiencing chronic homelessness to get off the streets and get the care that they need. \u201cLosing targeted adult Medicaid will set our state backwards, and we have asked for a reversal of that decision at the federal level.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/27XSIHT2VRAB5BDGT2AYLRLTTE.JPG\")
Salt Lake County Council member Suzanne Harris and Nate Crippes, public affairs supervising attorney at the Disability Law Center, speak at a press conference concerning the need to protect Medicaid in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 30, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Advocates warned that Medicaid cuts and new rules will have dire consequences for vulnerable Utahns.The new rules would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253,5817,8793],"class_list":["post-794860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}