SALT LAKE CITY - A group supporting Governor Herbert's "Healthy Utah" plan rallied at the State Capitol Thursday.
"Utah Communities for Healthcare Coverage" hosted the rally; it is a partnership of organizations that have teamed up to build the case for increased health care coverage in Utah.
Tens of thousands of Utahns are currently living without health insurance, trapped in what is called the Medicaid gap.
Wednesday night, lawmakers killed one plan to cover them, while passing another.
In a 9-4 vote, the House Business and Labor Committee voted against the bill Wednesday but voted in the same number to move forward with an alternative, Utah Cares.
As proposed, Healthy Utah would be a two-year pilot project that would cover about 126,000 Utahns. The state would need to pay $25 million over the course of the plan but it would earn $1 billion in a federal match.
After the Healthy Utah bill was killed, the committee moved on to Utah Cares.
Under a two-year plan, approximately 60,000 Utahns would receive coverage per year, costing the state $64 million and netting about $200 million from the federal government.
Utah Cares, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan, now moves forward to the full House for further consideration.
In the video below Gov. Herbert answers questions from the media on "Healthy Utah," medical marijuana and presidential primaries.
