Trump and Idaho Republicans insist on making health care unaffordable

By Lauren Necochea
Reader Contributor

Since Republicans took power, they have been weakening health care in the U.S. The GOP budget bill, largely written by Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, failed to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that help more than 117,000 Idahoans pay for coverage. Democrats are pulling the only lever they have to demand a stop to the huge price hikes. Instead of working with Democrats, Congressional Republicans shut down the government.

Now, Idaho’s middle-class families will pay the price.

On Oct. 15, open enrollment begins for Idaho’s health insurance marketplace and Medicare. Without the ACA tax credits, premiums on the exchange will double on average, and about 25,000 Idahoans are likely to lose coverage altogether.

In Council, retired teacher Bob McMichael pays $50 a month for family coverage. Without the credits, his premium would jump to $2,200. In Boise, retiree Susan Wood pays $72 a month; without the credits, her premium would rise to $700.

Medicaid is under the same strain. The Republican budget bill cut Medicaid by $1 trillion, and Idaho’s GOP leaders compounded the damage by cutting provider payments by 4% to close a state budget shortfall. About 37,000 Idahoans are expected to lose coverage. The Idaho Hospital Association warns that roughly two dozen small rural hospitals are now at risk of closing, taking emergency rooms, maternity care and local jobs with them.

Idaho’s seniors are feeling it, too. More than 400,000 rely on Medicare, and many are getting letters showing sharp price hikes. A retired teacher in Moscow saw her prescription drug plan jump from $6 to $56 a month. 

Even workers with job-based insurance are not spared. Premiums for small business plans are expected to rise 11% next year. Employers will have to absorb the cost, pass it to workers, or cut coverage. 

For a decade, Republican leaders have claimed to have a health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but never shared it. Now that they control the House, the Senate and the White House, we’re seeing that the plan is to gut health care at every level to fund billionaire tax breaks.

This isn’t what Americans want. Recent polls show 78% of voters want to see ACA tax credits continue, including 59% of Republicans. Even far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling out her own party, recognizing that the GOP needs to end this shutdown and adopt a plan to stop skyrocketing premiums. 

Democrats in Congress are working to prevent this GOP-manufactured crisis. They have proposed a bipartisan plan to restore ACA credits, strengthen Medicaid, stabilize Medicare and keep rural hospitals open. But Idaho’s Republican senators keep voting it down. 

Idaho families deserve leaders who will lower costs and protect care, not play politics with their health.

Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.