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In this election you’ll be voting for the future financial stability of Idaho by voting “no” on Proposition 2. It’s that simple.

Prop. 2 aims to expand the existing Medicaid program in Idaho by adding an estimated 62,000 and 78,000 new enrollees. They need not be disabled, low-income, pregnant, or unemployed to get this totally free health care. No, the program is for adults up to age 65 who are able-bodied, have no children, and make too much to qualify for the existing Medicaid program but supposedly make too little to afford health care any other way. And, by the way, they don’t need to work at all; the program has no work requirement.

This is a giant step toward Obamacare’s objective of universal healthcare. Most individuals in that income category actually are eligible for subsidies, but why should they bother if Medicaid expansion gives them totally free healthcare? We are facing an entitlement program that will be nearly impossible to reverse once in place because of the dependency it creates.

In states where it has been implemented, enrollment numbers and emergency room visits by Medicaid recipients have more than doubled, driving state budgets into chaos. Because the promised “free” federal dollars have already been cut back.

So a litmus test question for state and county candidates in November should be: Do you support Prop. 2? If the answer is yes, they don’t deserve our vote because they either do not understand or do not care about Idaho’s financial future. It’s that simple.

JACK and BRENDA KLEIN

Hope