Idaho voters will determine through a ballot measure in November whether to expand the Medicaid program to cover low-income people in the state.
Advocates collected 56,192 signatures to bring the question before voters on Election Day. Were it to pass, anyone making under $16,000 a year would be able to sign up for government-funded healthcare coverage. If Medicaid is expanded in Idaho, an estimated 62,000 people would join the program.
In the past, Medicaid has primarily covered people with disabilities, care for older adults in nursing homes, pregnant women, and children. When Obamacare was drafted, all states were expected to expand Medicaid to more low-income earners, including able-bodied childless adults. But a Supreme Court decision made the expansion optional for states. As a result, the District of Columbia and 33 states have moved to expand Medicaid.
Maine used a similar ballot initiative to expand its program, but Republican Gov. Paul LePage, an Obamacare opponent, has pushed back against its implementation.
In November, Utah also will bring the question before voters and officials in Nebraska are determining whether enough signatures have been collected to bring it up there.
Under Obamacare, the federal government paid the full cost of Medicaid expansion in states beginning in 2014, but this support will fall to 90 percent of costs by 2020. In some states, that will mean billions of dollars in additional spending. Several other states have taxed on hospitals or health insurers to fund the increase.
