BOISE, Idaho (AP) — About 42,000 Idaho residents have signed up for Medicaid under expanded coverage in the first three weeks it has been offered.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare supplied the updated numbers on Friday. The agency estimates that about 91,000 people are eligible to sign up under the expansion.
Voters authorized Medicaid expansion last year with an initiative that passed with 61% of the vote after years of inaction by state lawmakers.
But lawmakers earlier this year added restrictions requiring five waivers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Waivers are required when states want to deviate from Medicaid rules. Federal officials have yet to approve any of Idaho’s requested waivers, but enrollment is proceeding with coverage starting Jan. 1.
