Committee approves hospital-assessment substitute to restore federal drawdown (SB 305)

The Health and Human Services Committee voted to favorably recommend the first substitute to SB 305, a bill to enable a hospital assessment that proponents say will help recapture federal funding lost after recent federal changes.

Sponsor testimony summarized the substitute as returning hospital-assessment funding language to statute so the state can leverage federal matching dollars. “If we pass this, the hospital would kick in some money… and so we would draw down about 100, 105,000,000,” Dave Gessel of the Utah Hospital Association told the committee, adding that hospitals might contribute roughly $30–35 million to generate that federal match.

Committee members asked about scale and timing. The sponsor and testimony framed the substitute as a partial replacement for funds lost under earlier federal legislation described in the hearing as “HR1.” After public comment the committee moved and adopted the first substitute and passed the bill favorably out of committee.

What’s next: The substitute advances to the full Senate; the committee voice vote approved the substitute during the hearing.