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An Essential Guide To Idaho's Medicaid Program

In the world of social programs, Medicaid is one of the hardest to understand. It’s something of a catch-all program for low-income people, covering broad and divergent needs. Included are healthy children and adults with eligible dependent children, people with disabilities or special health needs, and the elderly. Eligibility is income-based and it varies according the category of qualification for the program.During the state’s 2011 fiscal year, more than three quarters of the funding allocated to the Department of Health and Welfare’s budget went to Medicaid. The program received about $1.55 billion in federal and state funding, with 74 percent of those dollars coming from the federal government.Enrollment in Idaho’s Medicaid program has grown substantially in recent years. The average monthly Medicaid enrollment was fairly stable between 2006 and 2008. It grew by about 3.5 percent. But in the last three years, the program’s enrollment has grown nearly 21 percent. Ballooning from about 185,000 in 2008 to 228,897 in 2012.

Medicaid Expansion Effort Seeks Signatures In Canyon County

Boise State Public Radio News | By Norm Gunning

Published April 20, 2018 at 1:31 PM MDT

Organizers of a proposed initiative to expand Medicaid coverage in Idaho say signature gathering this weekend in Canyon County is key to their success.

Reclaim Idaho leaders say they need to get 5,000 more valid signatures by the end of the month in order to successfully qualify the Medicaid measure for the November ballot. The initiative would allow voters to expand Medicaid eligibility to an estimated 50,000-60,000 low-income Idaho residents.

Reclaim Idaho's Sam Sandmire says volunteers will be going door to door to registered voters in Canyon County Saturday.

"It takes a lot of time to get these signatures because we're only going door to door," Sandmire says, "but then we know the signature is valid if we go to registered voters only."

Supporters need about 800 signatures from District 10 in Caldwell and about 750 from District 12 in Nampa. To qualify for the ballot, the initiative needs signatures from about 56,000 voters split among half of the state's 36 legislative districts.

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Medicaid Expansion Effort Seeks Signatures In Canyon County

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