“it’s not about reaching across the aisle. It’s more like reaching across the doorstep.”
Luke Mayville, Reclaim Idaho Co-Founder
In 2011, Republican-run states all over the US refused to expand Medicaid, in protest of the Affordable Care Act. For Idaho, that choice left an estimated 62,000 people in the dangerous position of not having any access to health insurance. Deemed “not poor enough” for Medicaid but without the income to qualify for ACA subsidies, they landed in what’s become known as The Medicaid Gap.
For years, Idaho legislators did nothing to address this issue.
In 2018, Idaho natives Emily Strizich, her husband Garrett and their childhood friend Luke Mayville set out to change that. With little political experience, and few resources beyond a 1977 dodge RV painted bright green, they got on the road and drove from town to town. They collected thousands of signatures, knocked on every door. Others joined the fight. The result was something no one expected: Medicaid expansion would be put to a vote for the very first time.
