UT hospitals swallow "sick tax"

Proposals for a so-called "sick tax" on hospitals used to be a non-starter in Utah. But the idea gained favor in 2010 as a means to help the recession-starved state cover the costs of treating the poor. Now hospitals, once opposed to the bed tax, are pushing a bill to reauthorize it for another three years. Money generated by the tax is used to backfill state funding cuts to the low-income Medicaid—money needed to draw down federal funding.