Utah’s Medicaid Program Pays People’s Medical Bills

Utah The state of Utah has a Medicaid program that connects with several other state public health insurance programs. Their website reads: “The Utah Medicaid program pays medical bills for people”. The state has plenty of helpful programs connected through Medicaid, or separate from it. Here is some information about how to qualify for Medicaid in Utah.

Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. Typically, the funding comes from both the federal government and the state government. In Utah, Medicaid benefits are paid with both federal and state funds. Utah’s Medicaid program is jointly administered by the Utah Department of Health and the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah has quite a few public programs that can help families to afford health insurance.

The Medicaid program in Utah will pay medical bills for the people who qualify. To get that type of help, a person must qualify for a category of the state’s Medicaid. The person must have low-income, or must be unable to afford the cost of health care. The person also must have resources (or assets) that are under the federal limit for the category of Medicaid.

An individual must qualify each month for continued coverage. When I read that, I think it means that it is possible for a person to qualify in a given month, but not the next month, and then in another month later on. This is a bit confusing to me.

Monthly income standards for Utah’s Medicaid program can vary. It can be anywhere between around 55% and 133% of the Federal Poverty Level. The percentage depends on which category of Medicare that the person is applying for.

Those that do not meet the income standards might qualify for the Medically Needy Program. This is also called the “Spenddown” program. To qualify, a person agrees to “spend down” his or her monthly income to the Medicaid income standard. That person gets a choice of how to pay the amount that is over the Medicaid limit.

They can pay “excess” monthly income to the state of Utah, or they can pay a medical provider for one or more medical bills. In this case, the person would sign a Medicaid form that states the amount the person owes, and the medical provider gets notified of the patient’s agreement to pay the bill. Not all states have this type of Medicaid program.

Utah’s Medicaid has a resource limit. The total amount varies, again, depending on the category of Medicaid that a person is receiving. There is no resource limit for pregnant women and newborn children. The typical limit for one individual is $2,000, and is $3,000 for two people. There will be $25.00 added for each additional person.

Image by debaird on Flickr

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