Idaho’s GOP Guv Is Pushing For A Medicaid Expansion Debate

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter crosses the rotunda to deliver his State of the State address inside the House chambers at the state Capitol building on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)
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Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) is pushing for state lawmakers to debate Medicaid expansion in the new legislative session, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

Otter told legislators in his State of the State address that they should hold a hearing on the key Obamacare program. The governor has expressed some openness to Medicaid expansion in the past, thought he rejected a 2012 state commission’s recommendation to expand the program under the federal health care reform law.

Idaho is the latest Republican-led state to show signs of thawing on the Obamacare program. Utah, Tennessee, and Indiana are already negotiating with the Obama administration on alternative Medicaid expansion proposals. Some expansion advocates in Texas believe there is an opening in that state as well.

Otter said Monday that he largely supports the recommendations of his Medicaid expansion work group, which came out late last year. The group proposed using traditional Medicaid to cover Idahoans below the poverty line and using federal dollars to pay for private insurance for those above it.

More than 75,000 low-income residents would be covered by Medicaid expansion in Idaho.

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