A year in, Idaho is paying more for new Medicaid enrollees with expensive conditions
IDAHO FALLS â Aâlana Marmel had insurance. It was a last resort policy â one that might not help a ton with routine doctor visits, but would keep the single mother of two afloat if an emergency struck. Catastrophic insurance, as brokers call it. Then Marmel needed surgery. It could wait. So she did. A year later, she had her medically necessary but not time-sensitive surgery â an ovarian mass found to be benign once removed â after Medicaid expansion took effect in Idaho this January. âI ended up having to basically wait,â Marmel recalled recently. At a scre...