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Show 2002 Utah Legislative Update Rachel L. Orth, Associate Editor, Special Topics Introduction Each year, Utah's Health: An Annual Review provides a brief description of the Legislative General Session. The Utah Legislature 2002 General Session, interrupted by the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, proved to be an interesting year that was especially riddled with major funding issues. The following sections outline some of the major funding issues as well as the bills relevant to public health and health care policy. Major Funding Issues for FY 2002 - 2003 (Information Provided by the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst) Since the events of the September 11th tragedy, the nation has experienced an economic slowdown. Utah, not immune to the economic impacts, has thus experienced a reduction of revenue estimates for FY 2002. Twice the revenue estimates have been reduced, ultimately forcing the Legislature to face a $256.9 million revenue shortfall for FY 2002. Unfortunately, the revenue shortfall is expected to continue into FY 2003, and ongoing budget reductions will remain necessary. Although the Legislative Fiscal Analyst estimates that the revenue growth will be 3.5%, this growth is calculated from a lower revenue base for FY 2002. The budget appropriation for FY 2003 is approximately $7.6 billion in all, ensuing in a 0.3% decrease from FY 2002 Revised appropriation. Consequently, FY 2003 budget is a flat budget with respect to FY 2002 Revised. With respect to FY 2003 appropriation, Health and Human Service is allotted 22% of the overall budget. The Department of Health has been allotted approximately $1.2 billion, representing a 7.0% increase from the FY 2002 Revised appropriations. Nevertheless, while some new funding has been approved, funding reductions for certain health programs were also made. Among the more important issues faced by the 2002 General Session was funding for such programs and services as Medicaid, HIPAA, the Utah Medical Assistance Program (UMAP), the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), services for people with disabilities, adoption assistance funding, increased funding for substance abuse treatment, Medicaid, grants for people with disabilities, increased medical and pharmaceutical costs, and in-home services for the aged. The Medicaid program suffered several reductions in funding due to the FY 2002 revenue shortfall. However, despite the lower revenue base, appropriations needed to account for inflation and increased utilization of the Medicaid program. Over $88 million has been appropriated to deal with the demands of inflation and increased utilizations. Furthermore, just under $4 million has been allotted for reinsurance so that the State is able to handle catastrophic Medicaid costs. Reductions to the Medicaid program now limit the number of monthly prescriptions to seven, which equates to a monetary reduction of nearly $5 million. The co-pay has now increased, chiropractic services have been eliminated, and optional services have been reduced by $6.3 million. On the more positive side, new funding of $389,900 has been appropriated for the coverage of breast and cervical cancer screenings. Funding for local mental health, substance abuse, and aging services suffered some cuts during the 2002 Legislative Session. Local mental health services, in particular, received 1.1% less from the General Fund than in FY 2002 appropriations. Local substance abuse services are subject to 2% reductions in funding. The Families, Agencies, Communities Together (FACT) funding was reduced by 60%, from $5 million to $2 million. Other programmatic reductions included the elimination of the Bureau of Primary Care, Rural, and Ethnic Health. 2002 Health Policy Legislative Bills The following section describes the legislative bills pertaining to public health and health policy that have passed during the 2002 Legislative Session. A short and basic description of the bill is provided, and, when available, the fiscal impact to the state, the businesses, and the Utah citizen is also included. More detailed information, including copies of the enrolled bills and fiscal analyst statements, is available as a public service of the Utah state government. The Utah State Legislature information may be obtained at the Utah State Legislature website http://www.le.state.ut.us/. Interestingly, the 2002 General Session marked the first year that the session was subject to audio broadcasting; audio clips of the House and Senate debates are accessible at the website. Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume VIII 127 |