BOISE, Idaho –– The Idaho Senate today took another damaging step toward stripping health care coverage from tens of thousands of Idahoans by passing House Bill 913, placing additional government red tape on federally mandated work-reporting requirements. The vote is another in a long series of legislative actions taken against the clear wishes of Idahoans, who have urged lawmakers to leave Medicaid expansion in place and preserve coverage, as initiated and approved by voters and without additional state-imposed work-reporting barriers.
A veto from Gov. Brad Little is now the only hope of stopping the legislation, which would put Idaho cancer patients and many others at significant risk of losing access to care and the diminished health outcomes that follow, including preventable death.
HB 913 institutes the harshest Medicaid options available to the state under federal law: a three-month review for all new enrollees, essentially denying coverage to anybody who cannot prove to have met work-reporting requirements for the previous 90 days. This is a remarkably high bureaucratic bar and particularly cruel to those engaging in treatment for diseases like cancer. HB 913 will force Idahoans into a maze of state-mandated paperwork that the state itself will struggle to process without additional staff and the costs that come with it.
Volunteer advocates of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) call on Gov. Little to do what legislators have not and hear the many, clear voices of voters and veto the hazardous HB 913.
This statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Idaho Government Relations Director Randy Johnson can be used in full or in part:
“We ask Gov. Little to take a full accounting of what this bill will force upon the state, especially the countless Idahoans who work hard but still do not make enough to afford private insurance. Forcing these people into a suffocating paperwork quagmire will serve no function other than to keep them and their children from getting the care they need, be it cancer treatment, a mammogram or a regular checkup.
“HB 913 creates barriers to health care access for Idahoans. Cancer patients and those with serious illnesses will be hit hard but certainly are not alone. Single moms, retail and customer service workers and young families just getting started are among those who will also bear the brunt. Further, HB 913 will not reduce costs in a meaningful way and will make the program harder for the state to manage. It adds red tape that will strip eligible individuals of their coverage and we’ve seen firsthand how bureaucratic hurdles cause people to lose coverage—not because they are ineligible, but due to unnecessary administrative obstacles.
“Medicaid expansion is a lifeline for tens of thousands of Idahoans, and this legislation takes it away from many, which seems to be the unfortunate goal of this legislature. We ask Gov. Little to speak for those who have not been heard by the legislature and veto this bill.”