The push to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of Idahoans is one step closer to landing in the hands of voters. Ada County Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane says counties across the state have verified 58,000 signatures on an initiative to ask voters if they want to extend Medicaid eligibility to low-income residents.
The count is currently unofficial, but it's enough total votes to get it on the ballot if confirmed. Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney says his office hasn’t received any of the petitions to verify that count.
Denney’s team will also have to verify if Reclaim Idaho gathered enough signatures across half of the state’s legislative districts.
No other proposed ballot initiative has met both requirements since the law was changed in 2013.
Up to 62,000 Idaho residents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but too little for a federal health insurance subsidy.
Polling data from Idahoans for Healthcare, a group backing Medicaid expansion, shows 66 percent of respondents support such a move.
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