Proposition 2 will improve healthcare for Idahoans

Editor:

 We’ve all heard the numbers on Medicaid expansion, including how it will

save our state money and how many Idahoans it could cover. 

 As President of

the Idaho Rural Health Association and a family physician, I can tell you how

life-changing expanding Medicaid will be in rural Idaho. 

 We have an historic

opportunity to insure rural Idahoans whose lives will be improved with

healthcare access.

 Growing up in Cambridge, Idaho, and also throughout my medical career, I have

seen too many hard-working rural Idahoans suffer, and sometimes die, because

they lacked access to medical care. 

 Sandy, the grocery clerk whose cancer was diagnosed too late to treat. Jim, the mechanic with high cholesterol and

heart attack in his 50s. Bob, the ranch hand with an asthma attack that resulted in hospitalization and medical bankruptcy.  

 And the stories go on and on.

 Medicaid is already a lifeline to many rural communities. In parts of Idaho where work is seasonal, where jobs often don’t come with health insurance benefits, and where incomes fluctuate by the time of year, Medicaid makes the difference for hard-working Idahoans who need coverage. 

 People may think of cities first, but when it comes to expanding Medicaid, it is Idaho’s rural towns that have the most to gain.

 Rural hospitals are often the lifeblood of Idaho’s communities in small towns and counties. In many places, they account for as much as one-fifth of the local economy and are one of the largest employers in the area. But hard work alone doesn’t keep these hospitals open. 

 Over 80 rural hospitals in the last eight years have closed, leaving rural communities in poverty and without care.  

 When rural hospitals close, life is even harder in these small

communities. Studies show that states that expanded Medicaid are 85 percent less likely to face these devastating rural hospital closures.

 Too often our rural communities are forgotten by government policy. Attention and funding go to bigger cities, and rural towns end up with less than they need.  

 Idaho voters finally have an opportunity to change that. Expanding Medicaid is one of the best things the people of Idaho could do to support rural communities. 

 It would provide coverage to thousands of Idahoans who desperately need it, create jobs, and strengthen the rural hospitals that small towns depend on. 

 We have the chance to save the state money while also saving lives. The health of our state depends on it. 

 On Nov. 6, please join me in voting “yes” on Proposition 2 to expand Medicaid.

Mary Barinaga, MD

Boise