Senate advances Health System Improvement Act after hours of debate over open enrollment and Medicaid waiver

Senator Mancini, the Senate floor sponsor, urged colleagues to advance Substitute HB 305, the Health System Improvement Act, arguing it bundles measures intended to expand coverage and improve quality across Utah’s health market. He said the bill authorizes a $500,000 quality study, $300,000 to establish area health education centers (AHECs), and a Medicaid waiver aimed at extending coverage to an estimated 56,000 people.

The bill pockets a mix of regulatory and programmatic changes intended to affect access, quality and cost. "When you change access or attempt to control costs, you've got to monitor quality to make sure the quality of health care does not deteriorate," Mancini said in floor remarks summarizing the bill's quality-monitoring provision. He described AHECs as a collaborative effort with the University of Utah…