Conservative Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) filed paperwork to run for governor of Idaho Tuesday, releasing a short statement that appeared to preface a formal announcement of his 2018 candidacy.
“Idaho needs a proven conservative leader who will stand against the special interests and politicians that have picked the winners and losers in our state Capitol for too long,” he said in a statement published by the Spokesman-Review. “Idaho needs a strong leader who will make government fair for everyone. Idaho needs a governor who will provide a new vision, a new approach and new leadership.”
Labrador was at the blunt end of an angry town hall on Friday after he said that “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.”
He was responding to a constituent who asked him about the proposed $880 billion cut to Medicaid in Republicans health bill, the most recent version of which Labrador supported in the House of Representatives.
Labrador later said in a statement that “I was trying to explain that all hospitals are required by law to treat patients in need of emergency care regardless of their ability to pay and that the Republican plan does not change that.”
That’s true. However, individuals without insurance often end up in the emergency room after not receiving care in more favorable settings.
Politifact responded to Labrador’s claim with an extensive list of academic studies on the inverse relationship between securing health insurance and mortality.