Idaho’s teachers union and school boards group have thrown their support behind a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid.
The Idaho Education Association and the Idaho School Boards Association Tuesday endorsed Proposition 2, which if passed would provide healthcare for the 62,000 Idahoans who fall into the state’s health coverage gap – those who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for subsidized coverage through the state’s exchange.
The two education organizations issued a joint statement that said expanding Medicaid will help provide critical services for families and individuals that desperately need it. The groups pointed to studies that show populations with robust access to health care have increased chances for student success.
The Affordable Care Act envisioned every state would expand Medicaid eligibility to its poor, but a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made it optional, and many Republican-run states, including Idaho, haven’t expanded it. The GOP-dominant Legislature has debated the issue since then but hasn’t passed anything, and this year the group Reclaim Idaho got enough signatures to put it on the ballot.
Proponents say expanding Medicaid would save the state more than $85 million over 10 years on behavioral health services, and $49 million on mental health services.
Proposition 2 has also won support from the Idaho Sheriff’s Association, and the Idaho chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, among others. (IEA, ISBA, IdahoansForHealthcare.org)
