Enrollment for Idaho’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion is officially underway.
Those who qualify must be Idaho residents between the ages of 19 and 64, and earn less than about $17,000 a year if they’re single. An estimated 91,000 Idahoans could be eligible for the new coverage.
Proposition 2, which authorized the state’s Medicaid expansion program, passed with more than 60 percent of the vote. It has since survived a court challenge questioning its constitutionality and could undergo further changes as the Republican-dominated legislature has asked the federal government to allow for GOP-backed restrictions, including work requirements.
Lawmakers are also currently debating how the state will pay for the state’s $41 million share of the program’s estimated cost next fiscal year. A legislative committee says about half of that will be covered by savings the program is expected to bring to state agencies, but some on the committee want counties to shoulder part of the bill.
Open enrollment runs through December 16th, with coverage beginning January 1st. (Boise State Public Radio news)
