By Ben Lockhart

Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY - Supporters of full Medicaid expansion in Utah officially filed an application Monday at the state Capitol to take the issue to voters in 2018.

The campaign, Utah Decides Healthcare, is pushing for Medicaid eligibility for tens of thousands of Utahns who do not qualify for all- important tax credits on health insurance plans offered on the federal exchange.

"The initiative will provide vitally needed health care to our most vulnerable citizens, hardworking families and low-income individuals who need it the most," Dina Blaes, initiative campaign spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The application was submitted to the lieutenant governor's office, which has 30 days to review the language of the initiative to make sure it meets minimum thresholds such as not being blatantly unconstitutional or nonsensical. If given the green light, organizers will need to collect 113,000 signatures by April 15, 2018, meeting certain thresholds of signees in 26 of Utah's 29 Senate districts, in order to get the initiative on the ballot.

The initiative would expand Medicaid coverage eligibility to all Utahns whose income is 138 percent or less of the federal poverty level, making insurance available to Utahns who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be eligible for vital tax credits toward any coverage plans on the federal health exchange.

Organizers said the initiative calls for a state sales tax increase from 4.7 percent to 4.85 percent to raise $91 million to pay for the expansion. Those funds would then draw down matching funds of a little more than $800 million from the federal government, according to the campaign.

Signatories on the application include Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Cottonwood Heights, and the Right Rev. Scott B. Hayashi, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. The others are Beth Armstrong, executive director of the nonprofit People's Health Clinic in Park City; Alan Ormsby, directory of AARP in Utah; and Karina Brown, a Logan mother whose own mom was uninsured when she recently died at 64 years old.

Bishop Hayashi said he is optimistic the initiative will both make it to the ballot and pass.

"(Utahns) care deeply about each other," he said. "I'm very, very hopeful. ... I know people are very compassionate."

Bishop Hayashi and other supporters of the initiative say they're encouraged by polling showing most Utahns favor Medicaid expansion.

"We're speaking directly to the people of Utah ... after four years talking about it at the Capitol," he said.

Shiozawa, an emergency room doctor who serves on the Utah Legislature's Health Reform Task Force, was traveling Monday but offered an economic argument in favor of the initiative in a prepared statement.

"We can either be proactive and get some of our federal tax dollars coming back to Utah in the form of federal match grants, or we can sit here doing nothing and watch our homelessness problem and overall health care worsen, while continuing to pay these taxes," Shiozawa said. "That makes no sense at all. I think we ought to let the people of Utah have a say in this."

State lawmakers settled on a significantly limited Medicaid package in 2016, following years of intense debate over whether to implement full expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Most Utahns with dependant children and who make between 55 percent and 100 percent of the federal poverty level fall into a coverage gap - earning too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to qualify for tax credits.

Those tax credits cover 72 percent of the cost of premiums for Utahns on the exchange on average, meaning paying for a plan without them dramatically balloons a person's monthly costs, according to the Utah Health Policy Project, one of the advocacy organizations supporting the initiative.

The coverage gap is even larger for most Utahn adults without dependants. Only a few thousand people in that demographic - largely the most needy, such as those who are homeless - are the target of limited Medicaid eligibility expansion that state officials hope will be federally approved this fall.

In total, about 80,000 Utahns do not qualify for either Medicaid or for getting tax credits toward a plan on the Affordable Care Act, said Jason Stevenson, spokesman for the Utah Health Policy Project.

The initiative would also explicitly outlaw the creating of caps on enrollment in both Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program in Utah.

Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, who has been at the forefront of the debate over Medicaid expansion in recent years, said last week that the initiative seems to him to be fiscally unsound. That was largely due to Medicaid being an open-ended government program, with no fixed spending limit, he said at the time.

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Credit: By Ben Lockhart Deseret News

Protective’s 60^th acquisition adds employee benefits business line to portfolio

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Protective Life Corporation, a U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750), is proud to announce that its principal subsidiary, Protective Life Insurance Company (together “Protective”), completed the acquisition of ShelterPoint Group, Inc., the holding company of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company and its wholly owned subsidiary ShelterPoint Insurance Company (together “ShelterPoint”). ShelterPoint is a leading provider of statutory disability, paid family and medical leave, and medical gap insurance products, among others.

The addition of ShelterPoint and its business diversifies Protective’s product mix and further strengthens Protective through new products, new talent and new customers. The acquisition better positions both Protective and ShelterPoint for future growth.

“As a leader in the employee benefits space with a strong commitment to customer service, ShelterPoint stood out as a great business for Protective to add to our already diversified product mix. We welcome ShelterPoint’s teammates to the Protective family and look forward to continuing ShelterPoint’s great customer care to its more than two million customers,” said Rich Bielen, President and CEO of Protective.

“Today marks a special milestone in Protective’s story as we add a new business line to our portfolio,” said Wade Harrison, EVP, Chief Retail Officer for Protective. “ShelterPoint is a well-known leader in the employee benefits industry, and we are thrilled about the opportunities it brings. Most importantly, we remain committed to maintaining the exceptional service and quality this team has established during its more than 50 years of service.”

“ShelterPoint and Protective share a common vision to grow and protect more people during life’s most critical moments. We are excited to become part of this great company and look forward to leveraging each other’s strengths as we work toward our goals and continue delivering an exceptional customer experience to those who have trusted us with their care,” added ShelterPoint’s CEO Leston Welsh, who joins Protective as SVP, President, Employee Benefits.

This transaction represents Protective’s 60^th acquisition and its seventh acquisition completed since Protective became part of Dai-ichi in 2015.

Serving as external legal counsel for Protective were Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Maynard Nexsen PC. ShelterPoint is a portfolio company of Eos Partners and its affiliates, a New York based private investment firm. ShelterPoint was represented by Winston & Strawn LLP and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Financial advisors for this deal included Fenchurch Advisory Partners US LP for Protective and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC for ShelterPoint.

About Protective

Protective has helped people achieve protection and security in their lives for 117 years. Through its subsidiaries, Protective offers life insurance, annuity, asset protection and employee benefit solutions and is helping more than 16.4 million people protect what matters most. Protective’s more than 3,800 employees put people first and deliver on the company’s promises to customers, partners, colleagues and communities - because we’re all protectors. With a long-term focus, financial stability and commitment to doing the right thing, Protective Life Corporation, a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., has $118 billion in assets, as of Dec. 31, 2023. Protective is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and supported by a robust virtual workforce and core sites in the greater Cincinnati area and St. Louis. For more information about Protective, visit www.protective.com.

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Corporate Communications

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Source: Protective Life Corporation