Democrats in Idaho’s Ada County have adopted a resolution urging all eligible voters to sign a ballot initiative seeking to expand Medicaid coverage.
According to a resolution approved last week, the Ada County Democratic Central Committee said it will ask the chair of the Ada County Republican Party to join in bi-partisan support of the petition due to the “moral and medical imperative” to end suffering.
Idaho Republican lawmakers have long refused to consider expanding Medicaid eligibility while also failing to come up with a solution for the estimated 78,000 Idahoans who currently don’t qualify for Medicaid or make too much for a subsidy. The GOP’s primary argument against expansion has been that accepting federal dollars only comes with regulatory burdens that do not help lower the growing costs of medical care.
Reclaim Idaho, who is leading the ballot initiative effort, needs at least 48,000 signatures from registered voters to make the 2018 general election ballot.
The battle over whether to expand Medicaid has traditionally taken place inside state legislatures since former President Barack Obama’s health care reform law was enacted in 2010. But after years of opposition from Republican state lawmakers, activists are seeking a new approach.
In total, 31 states have expanded their program. Maine voters recently defied conservative opponents by becoming the first state to approve Medicaid expansion through a ballot initiative. (AP)
