Medicaid expansion in Idaho likely dead with Trump win
"No sense in working on the branches of a problem if the root is going to be pulled up," House Speaker
"Certainly, I think, it'll have an effect on not only the actions that might be taken, but the attitude of the legislators themselves," said
President-elect Trump has promised to repeal and replace the ACA, and he will enter a
The political bent of the
The ACA as originally written envisioned that all states would expand
This year, the state
"We'll probably defer long enough to see what alternatives the new administration proposes," Hill said. "I guess, to be more blunt, I would be surprised to see the Legislature take any action until we see what alternatives might be coming from the new administration."
Bedke, too, said lawmakers would be in a "wait and see mode," and that "the approaches that have been pushed forward nationally up to this point, those are going to be non-starters."
"I don't think the issue is going to go away, but the underlying policy that created the problem is," Bedke said.
What could those alternatives look like? Trump has proposed giving states more control over
A possible ACA repeal also throws into question the future of Your Health Idaho, the state-run health insurance exchange created in 2013 over the opposition of many
Senate Minority Leader
Stennett said repeal could endanger the coverage of many people who have insurance now and put more costs on hospital emergency rooms and county and state taxpayers.
"The problem doesn't go away," she said. "It just shifts to another place that would have to provide the service."
Stennett also doesn't expect lawmakers to do anything without seeing what Trump is going to do first.
"I just don't see this year (there) being any political will to do anything," she said.
"It is fundamentally unfair for the government to force someone, who is working full-time, to purchase a product they may not want or can't afford and turn around to offer another person 'no-cost' health insurance -- even if he or she could afford to pay a small premium," he writes.
"There certainly is concern about the momentum to repeal the Affordable Care Act," she said.
However, she expressed hope that the discussion would continue at the state level in
"The good thing is, I have seen a recognition of the gap population," she said. "Through the last legislative subcommittee, all agreed
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