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As efforts to repeal Medicaid expansion continue, local advocates say it will hit rural areas the hardest

James Dawson
/
Boise State Public Radio

As lawmakers introduce measures to repeal Medicaid expansion in the state, advocates say the program that provides healthcare to 85,000 Idahoans should be saved.

“We actually had it directly on the ballot in 2018,” said Luke Mayville, director of the Advocacy Group Reclaim Idaho at a press conference on Thursday. “61% of the people, even in a very conservative state, voted in favor of Medicaid expansion.”

The program allows people who make too much to receive Medicaid benefits but not enough to qualify for insurance to receive assistance.

Assistant Minority Leader Sen. James Ruchti added repealing the program would hit sparsely populated areas the hardest.

“In a rural state like ours, people end up needing Medicaid at some point in their lives, or they have family members or friends that have needed Medicaid in order to bridge some difficult time in their lives,” he said. “When they've lost a job and are waiting to get another one. Or they've gone through some significant event, a divorce or they've become homeless for a period of time as they're trying to get back on their feet.”

According to a report from the health nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, 68% of adults on Medicaid in the state are working and 20% of Idahoans received Medicaid benefits. A third of births in the state are covered by Medicaid.

“I'm a little worried that the loss of Medicaid funding would be the death nail for many of our labor and delivery units in rural Idaho,” said Ruchti, adding the state’s restrictive laws have already put a strain on physician recruitment.

In 2022, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported Canyon County, Bonneville, Bannock, Kootenai, Twin Falls and Madison counties had the highest numbers of Medicaid expansion enrollees.

Medicaid for the state’s next fiscal year is expected to cost about $98 million, representing about 10% of the overall cost. The federal government covers the rest.

The bill to repeal the expansion was introduced by Rep. John Vander Woude (R-Nampa) in front of the House Welfare and Health Committee earlier this week.

I joined Boise State Public Radio in 2022 as the Canyon County reporter through Report for America, to report on the growing Latino community in Idaho. I am very invested in listening to people’s different perspectives and I am very grateful to those who are willing to share their stories with me. It’s a privilege and I do not take it for granted.

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