Boise, Idaho • Of all the decisions Idaho voters are making on election day, the decision on whether to expand Medicaid to more low-income Idahoans might be the one that hits closest to home for many.
The citizen initiative called Proposition 2 would expand Medicaid coverage to potentially more than 60,000 low-income adults across the state. Those residents are dubbed the "gap population," people who make too much to qualify for Medicaid in its current form but don't earn enough to get subsidized health insurance coverage under the state health insurance exchange.
Those living in the gap can find themselves with no way to get medical care except for emergency room settings, and the costs of those hospital visits often fall on hospitals, local municipalities and the state.