BY KAREN BOSSICK

Medicaid for Idaho will hold two open houses today and Friday as it kicks off its drive in Blaine County to get an initiative to expand affordable healthcare for Idahoans on the ballot.

The project was created by Lake Mayville and Garrett Strizich, part of a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization called Reclaim Idaho that also advocates for strong public schools and protected public lands.

The first event will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today—Thursday, Jan. 4—at Smokey Bone BBQ at 315 S. Main St. in Hailey. The second will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at the Leadville Espresso House at 411 Leadville Ave. in Ketchum.

According to Reclaim Idaho, about 78,000 Idahoans fall into what is known “the Medicaid gap” where they earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little money to qualify for federal subsidies that would help pay for private insurance coverage.

The Idaho legislature has declined to expand Medicaid as allowed under the 2008 Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act.

Last summer Mayville and Strizich traveled to 20 Idaho counties on a Medicaid Mobile tour to listen to Idahoans tell their stories.

“We heard heart-wrenching stories,” said Mayfield. “Young single mothers working two and three jobs to cover medical bills of relatives, while trying to raise children. Cashiers and cooks who fell into the Medicaid gap as soon as they found employment. People who will leave this state they love, and who will leave family behind, simply because they can’t find affordable health care in Idaho.

“There’s a genuine hope that our elected leaders will still do the right thing and expand Medicaid,” he added.

Medicaid Expansion, which taxpayers are paying for but not receiving in Idaho, would save rural hospitals from closure, create an estimated 14,000 new jobs and extend healthcare to the 78,000 Idahoans who fall between the cracks, Mayville said.

Putting Medicaid Expansion on the ballot would give voters a chance to send a message to legislators about the importance of affordable healthcare for working families, he added. Medicaid for Idaho must secure 56,000 signatures from registered voters by April 15, 2018, to get the initiative on the ballot.

There are more than 700 Blaine County residents who fall between the cracks, said Molly Page, who is overseeing the effort in Blaine County.

“We are excited to join this statewide grassroots effort and build on the community conversations about healthcare that took place here over the summer,” she said.