How Medicaid expansion saves lives and taxpayer dollars in Idaho’s health care system | Opinion
Medicaid expansion saves taxpayer dollars and Idaho lives.
The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee has introduced a bill on a party-line vote to repeal Medicaid expansion in hopes of saving money. Not only would doing this not accomplish that objective, but it would also leave the more than 90,000 Idahoans enrolled today without healthcare coverage, which would catastrophically impact the entire Idaho healthcare system, especially individuals and families living with mental illness.
Medicaid expansion benefits Idahoans who would otherwise fall into the insurance gap: making too much for traditional Medicaid but not enough to qualify for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Most of these are working Idahoans whose jobs generally don’t offer employer-based coverage or pay enough for them to cover the costs of coverage. More than 80% of the non-elderly, non-disabled adults enrolled in Medicaid work full or part-time (think employees of your local grocery stores, distribution centers, and restaurants), act as caregivers for family members or loved ones or are students.
Medicaid expansion also removes barriers to coverage for many people with mental illness helping them receive the mental health services they need to thrive. Access to coverage and care is essential for people with mental illness to successfully manage their condition and get on a path of recovery. Coverage can mean the difference between living in a constant cycle of one crisis after another and a productive, stable life.
Access to treatment means that Idahoans living with mental illness have far greater hope for the opportunity to lead productive lives, work, and care for themselves and their families. They’re less likely to skip medications due to cost and more likely to seek regular care for their ongoing health conditions while reporting improvements to their overall health.
Adults with mental illness often also have additional physical health conditions, including hypertension (20%), asthma (15%) and diabetes (10%). Medicaid expansion helps ensure that people can address both their physical and mental health needs.
Moreover, as mental illness and substance use disorders (SUDs) are often co-occurring, adults covered by Medicaid expansion are more likely to receive SUD treatment, including in many places most impacted by the opioid epidemic.
In Idaho, which is already a federally designated mental health service shortage area, repealing Medicaid expansion will cause delays in treatment for people who need it until they’re in crisis and must seek expensive emergency care or even require intervention by law enforcement. This impact will ripple out to affect not only those needing treatment, but their families, employers and communities.
Far from saving Idaho taxpayers money, repealing expanded Medicaid will only shift expenses to more expensive alternatives. Counties will need to establish indigent funds to deal with significant medical expenses. Costs for emergency or crisis care are more expensive than preventative care covered by Medicaid.
In 2023, a Department of Health and Welfare report estimated that the state would have spent more than $77 million in other costs without the program in place, while that year expansion population costs totaled around $68 million in state funds.
Hospitals will need to absorb unreimbursed expenses for emergency treatments. These costs may impact some hospitals’ ability to stay in business, especially for smaller organizations in rural areas. Ultimately, the higher unreimbursed expenses will be passed on to the other Idaho taxpayers who utilize the hospitals.
Medicaid Expansion is saving Idaho families from financial ruin, saving lives, and saving public dollars. Repealing it will have a devastating effect on not only those enrolled, but on Idaho’s healthcare system overall. We must protect it.