Every Idaho family deserves the chance to get help when a crisis hits. But GOP leaders are pushing mental health services further out of reach.
The system was already strained. Idaho ranks near the bottom nationally. Hundreds die by suicide each year, and tens of thousands report suicidal thoughts. Rural families face long drives and longer waitlists. School mental health staff are overwhelmed. For many, help never arrives.
Now the state is trying to fill a budget hole created by reckless Republican revenue cuts and a slowing economy. Mental health services took the hit. After the state reduced Medicaid reimbursement rates, Magellan Healthcare, the contractor overseeing mental health benefits, cut even deeper. Reductions of up to 15% make it even harder for providers to stay open.
Thousands of Idahoans will soon lose essential services. One of the most serious is Assertive Community Treatment, or ACT. This program supports people with the most severe mental illnesses by keeping them connected to consistent care. ACT works because it stabilizes people before they fall into crisis, which is safer and far less costly for families and communities.
ACT services were cut off without public notice or a transition plan. Providers warn that ending ACT will lead to more psychiatric emergencies, rising homelessness, and greater strain on law enforcement.
Other supports are disappearing too. Peer mentors, mobile crisis teams, and community-based programs are being reduced. When stabilizing services vanish, families are left to manage crises alone.
And the pressure on Idaho families is about to intensify. Medicaid expansion, which voters enacted to help people in the coverage gap, was Idaho’s biggest step forward in access to care. But Republican lawmakers passed new reporting requirements that will push thousands of Idahoans out of coverage just as hard times hit. Some GOP legislators are calling to repeal expansion entirely, which would take healthcare from tens of thousands of working Idahoans.
The mid-year cuts we now face stem from the same pattern of fiscal mismanagement by the Republican supermajority. Idaho will still have to contend with the deepest Medicaid cut in U.S. history, pushed by Congressional Republicans, which has not yet taken effect.
Idaho can choose a better path. Reversing the revenue cuts that benefit the wealthy and large corporations would help restore essential services. Lawmakers should repeal the costly school voucher scheme that drains $50 million from the state budget. And the state has significant reserves that could prevent further harm.
Idahoans want a mental health system that supports their loved ones before a crisis becomes an emergency. They want leaders who understand the stakes and act accordingly.
We can still change course and give Idaho a system that supports people when they need it most.
Onward,
Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair