Campaigns to expand Medicaid via ballot initiative are making strides in several Republican-leaning states, including Idaho, Utah and Nebraska following a successful referendum in Maine. The campaign says about 78,000 Idaho residents fall into the “Medicaid gap, meaning that they earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance on the state (ACA) health care exchange,” according to Reclaim Idaho, which launched the Medicaid expansion ballot effort. Medicaid expansion is “a policy being obstructed by legislators in spite of being broadly popular,” Reclaim Idaho ’s Mayville said. “That’s exactly what the ballot initiative process is designed for.”To be sure, a group called Utah Decides Healthcare aims to put Medicaid expansion on the November 2018 general election ballot as well. Medicaid expansion has gained converts among Republicans even amid the repeated failures by Donald Trump and the GOP-led Congress to repeal the entire ACA.

Source: Forbes December 24, 2017 14:26 UTC