[Vision2020] Idaho has second-highest number of uninsured vets in nation

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (December 20, 2013) Lewiston Tribune.

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Report: Idaho has second-highest number of uninsured vets in nation
By Betsy Z. Russell
Idaho has the second-highest rate of uninsured veterans in the nation, and if the state chose to expand its Medicaid program at federal expense, more than a third of those uninsured vets could get coverage, according to Idaho KidsCount.
"Many of us assume, like I did, that the men and women who serve our country are honored with the supports they need to adjust to civilian life," said Lauren Necochea, director of Idaho KidsCount.
But veterans only automatically qualify for TRICARE coverage if they retire after 20 years of service, she said. Those returning from deployment get Veterans Affairs coverage for five years; only those with documented service-connected disabilities may receive care beyond that.
Idaho KidsCount this week released a report showing that an estimated 10,000 military veterans in the state - 15 percent - currently lack health insurance. That rate is second only to Montana, where 17.3 percent of veterans are uninsured; Washington is roughly in the middle of the states, with about 10 percent of veterans lacking coverage.
If Idaho opted to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act, something the state's not yet taken any action on, the group estimates that 3,800 of its uninsured vets would be covered, along with 1,200 spouses.
"This concerns us at Idaho KidsCount because we care about veterans and because we know that many veterans are also parents," Necochea said. "We know that kids need healthy, strong parents to care for them and families need economic security to thrive."
Expanding Medicaid is a touchy issue in Idaho because of state officials' disdain for the federal health care reform law. But the state's current program for dealing with catastrophic medical costs for those who can't pay, its county indigency and state Catastrophic Fund program, costs the state's taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year, and draws no federal aid.
A University of Idaho study this year estimated that Medicaid expansion could save the state budget more than $600 million in the next decade and save county property taxpayers $478 million.
Medicaid expansion originally was a mandatory part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, but the U.S. Supreme Court made it optional for states.
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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
 

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