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Eye On Boise

Rally backs Medicaid redesign, to ‘close the gap’

People rally for Medicaid redesign at a
People rally for Medicaid redesign at a "Close the Gap Coalition" rally on the state Capitol steps on Tuesday (Betsy Russell)

Backers of redesigning Idaho’s Medicaid program – and saving the state $173 million – rallied on the Capitol steps over the noon hour today. The “Close the Gap Coalition,” including health care providers, members of Gov. Butch Otter’s Medicaid Redesign Work Group, health advocates and people who fall into the current coverage gap joined the rally, calling the $173 million figure “the cost of doing nothing.”

“Every year that we have sent our dollars back to the federal government our state has missed out on huge benefits,” said Beth Gray, a nurse practitioner who served on the governor’s task force. Stephen Weeg, board chairman of the Your Health Idaho insurance exchange, said, “It is past time to act. Kicking th an down the road by inaction means that uninsured persons will continue to live sicker and die younger.”

The “Healthy Idaho Plan” developed by the governor’s work group wouldn’t expand Idaho’s Medicaid program; instead, it would accept federal funds to purchase private insurance for people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for subsidized health care through the exchange. The patients would have to participate financially and the system would offer incentives for healthy behavior.  But state lawmakers have refused to consider the plan this year.

Chelle Gluch, who said she’s one of the 78,000 Idahoans who fall into the coverage gap, said, “The reality is that to get Medicaid in Idaho you must be destitute – earning less than $300 per month – and the fact is a family earning $301 cannot afford to pay for medical care.” The group released a fact sheet on the issue; you can read it here.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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