RELATED | \u2018These students feel betrayed\u2019 says ISU professor at town hall on cuts to higher education<\/a> <\/p>\n Governor Brad Little has not advocated for repealing expanded Medicaid, instead calling for millions of dollars in cuts and reduced services.<\/p>\n But on Thursday, the Idaho Capital Sun reported<\/a> that Rep. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, is drafting a bill that would repeal Medicaid expansion at the end of the year.<\/p>\n RELATED | Idaho lawmakers may cut Medicaid home care services, repeal expansion<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe have elected officials that are saying, \u2018Our current budget crisis is such in Idaho (that) we have to eliminate (Medicaid expansion). This is the only way we could get on base again,\u2019 which is definitely not true,\u201d said panel moderator Karole Honas.<\/p>\n A variety of experts spoke at the community forum on what repealing Medicaid expansion would mean for Idaho.<\/p>\n Maggie Mann, director of Southeastern Idaho Public Health, said that in the time since it took effect, Medicaid expansion \u201chas helped to ensure that Idaho residents, our neighbors in our community, have access to basic, high-quality preventive health care that is absolutely needed if we want to help people to be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n When people lose insurance coverage, Mann says they stop receiving preventative care, and instead wait until an issue is severe enough to go to the emergency room.<\/p>\n \u201cYou end up with symptoms that are really problematic, so you go to the emergency department for the UTI that would have cost $85 to treat in a clinic, (and) now (it) becomes several thousand (dollars),\u201d Mann said.<\/p>\n Dr. Mark Horrocks, chief medical officer of Health West Inc., argued that for this reason, repealing Medicaid expansion would increase costs system-wide. <\/p>\n He argues that without healthcare coverage, people still find themselves in need of medical care, and have to visit an emergency room. In response, providers have to increase prices, which causes insurers to raise premiums.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all pay for it, the whole state. We\u2019re all paying that in the form of extra premiums. So it is something that actually affects all of us, whether you want it to or not,\u201d Horrocks said.<\/p>\n Rep. Dan Garner, R-Clifton, affirmed this point when he addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just a cost shift. The State either picks it up or the counties pick it up,\u201d Garner said.<\/p>\n Josh Sorenson, director of Government relations & Physician Recruitment at Bingham Healthcare, fears what this would do to hospitals, particularly rural ones, which already operate on thin profit margins.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would be detrimental. I could see a scenario where many hospitals could or would close,\u201d Sorenson said.<\/p>\n Sorenson referenced a hospital in Teton Valley that he said \u201cnearly\u201d had to close, and would have if it weren\u2019t for a generous private donation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to say this is exclusively Medicaid (cuts). I\u2019m not going to say that there wasn\u2019t probably some mismanagement, but I do feel like when you have the perfect storm, sometimes you just can\u2019t survive,\u201d Sorenson said.<\/p>\n Rep. Rick Cheatum, R-Pocatello, and Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, also spoke at the town hall. All three legislators said they don\u2019t support a total repeal of Medicaid expansion.<\/p>\n Guthrie expressed that Medicaid expansion is a \u201chuman issue\u201d rather than a political one, recounting his experience of walking through the Capitol building on days when people who have medical issues that \u201cnone of us would want to have,\u201d were testifying.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can be in that environment and not feel something, then I feel something for you,\u201d Guthrie said.<\/p>\n Cheatum spoke to who he thinks would be the most affected by a total repeal of Medicaid expansion.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to feel the effects of what we\u2019re talking about as much in Treasure Valley \u2026 as they\u2019re going to feel in Teton County \u2026 or in Franklin County, if the hospital there closes. Our rural Idaho residents are going to be affected most dramatically by what\u2019s happening,\u201d Cheatum said.<\/p>\n Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, also spoke at the event. He\u2019s been publicly vocal about his stance against cutting Medicaid expansion, and he told the crowd why.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my opinion, it is not about what we can\u2019t afford. It\u2019s about what we\u2019re choosing to afford. It\u2019s about prioritizations, and we\u2019re prioritizing tax cuts and we\u2019re prioritizing school vouchers over Medicaid and helping children with disabilities,\u201d Fuhriman said.<\/p>\n While no representatives of District 29 \u2014 which encompasses most of Pocatello \u2014 were present at the meeting, candidates for the district\u2019s two house seats, Mary Shea and former state representative Nate Roberts, were in attendance. Roberts shared with the crowd that Sen. James Ruchti wanted to attend, but couldn\u2019t due to a prior engagement. <\/p>\n![\"Maggie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Protecting-What-Works-Maggie-Mann-750x500.jpg\")
<\/a>Maggie Mann speaking during the community forum. | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com <\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Protecting-what-works-Mark-Horrocks-750x500.jpg\")
<\/a>Dr. Mark Horrocks speaks during the forum. | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com <\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Protecting-what-works-Josh-Sorenson-750x500.jpg\")
<\/a>Josh Sorenson addresses the crowd during the forum. | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com <\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Protecting-what-works-Ben-Fuhriman-750x500.jpg\")
<\/a>Representative Ben Fuhriman addresses the crowd. | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com ![\"District](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Protecting-what-works-Representatives-of-District-28-750x500.jpg\")
<\/a>Representative Dan Garner, Senator Jim Guthrie, Representative Rick Cheatum, listen during Fuhriman\u2019s remarks. | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com <\/p>\n