Survey: Heath care a worry in state

A Boise State University public policy survey published Friday shows Idaho residents are newly optimistic about the direction the state is going even as some policies clash with their political priorities.

The annual survey, which is in its 10th year, was conducted in early to mid-November.

The survey asked 1,000 Idaho residents about their views on a number of timely political issues, from abortion and other health care access to education funding.

Boise State researchers noted that Idahoans’ top priorities — education, the economy and health care — have largely stayed the same in recent years while the overall political leanings of both longtime residents and newcomers have shifted slightly.

Here are some major takeaways from the report, which is available online at BoiseState.edu.

Idaho is on the right track, residents say

The number of Idaho residents who believe the state is headed in the right direction (about 49%) increased for the first time in several years after hitting an all-time low last year.

Researchers said the gap between residents who feel the state is headed the right way and those who feel it’s headed the wrong way (37%) has narrowed significantly since the survey began, and last year the “wrong way” respondents outnumbered the “right way” respondents for the first time.

“Political party remains a strong indicator of one’s outlook on the state’s direction,” the report said. Republicans were far more likely to say Idaho is headed in the right direction, though researchers said there was “little agreement” about why they felt that way.

Of the Idahoans who said the state is headed the right way, about 15% said it was because the state is conservative. Others pointed to good leadership, good people and economic success.

Those who were unhappy with Idaho’s direction also pointed to myriad causes. About 16% said the state was too conservative, 11% pointed to the state’s strict abortion restrictions and 7% said there were too many people arriving from out of state.

Researchers said 21% of survey respondents were among those newcomers and had arrived within the past 10 years. According to the report, respondents this year bucked a trend that showed new arrivals were even more conservative than longtime Idahoans.

“While a partisan split had emerged between new arrivals and longtime residents over the past two years, that split was not evident this year,” the report said. “About 41% of both longtime Idaho residents and new arrivals identify themselves as Republicans, a six-point increase compared to last year among longtime residents and a five-point decrease among newcomers.”

The number of longtime residents who identified as independents decreased by five percentage points to about 34%, and the new arrivals’ 38% independent identification was an increase of nine points. Researchers said it’s unclear if the previous years’ partisan gap is an outlier.

Health care surpasses housing as a top concern

Health care became one of Idahoans’ top three priorities this year, overtaking housing by a slight margin. Education and the economy held on to the top two positions.

The report said nearly half of Idaho residents – 49% – think health care is difficult to access. Forty-two percent said it’s easy to access.

Researchers said a few factors showed distinct divides in Idaho residents’ perceptions of health care access. Women were more likely than men (56% versus 42%) to say health care is hard to access.

People with incomes under $50,000 — about $5,000 below the state’s median annual wage — were also significantly more likely to find health care access difficult than people earning more than $100,000.

The results come as some Idaho lawmakers have indicated that they may try to repeal or reform Medicaid expansion during the 2025 legislative session, citing rising costs for the program. Voters approved the expansion in a ballot initiative in 2018.

The report said people who found health care difficult to access were also more likely to favor increased access to abortion.

Though Idaho banned abortion in nearly all cases in 2022, the survey found a majority of residents favor more access to abortion and less-strict exceptions to the state ban.

Majority oppose ‘school choice’ plan proposed by legislators

Education remained the top priority for survey respondents, who said teacher pay was by far the most important funding priority (47%).

Improving school buildings and facilities was the top priority for about 20% of respondents, and 15% said their top priority was allowing tax dollars to be used for private or religious education.

That practice, which has been touted as a voucher program or “school choice,” would provide thousands in tax rebates to Idaho families who choose to send their children to private schools.

Republican legislative leaders indicated earlier this month that they intend to pursue legislation to enact a voucher program during this legislative session. But more than half of Idaho residents oppose such legislation, the survey found.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said they are against using tax dollars to fund private or religious education, with 37% of Idaho residents — the most popular response — indicating they “strongly” oppose it.

About 38% of respondents said they support or strongly support a voucher program. Researchers said support for the idea was much higher among Republican respondents than independent or Democrat respondents, and higher among parents or grandparents of school-aged children than people without school-aged children.

“Support was especially high among respondents whose top legislative budget priority was tax relief (60%), and low among those whose top legislative budget priority was funding K-12 public schools (26%),” the report said.

Nicole Blanchard is part of the Idaho Statesman’s investigative and watchdog reporting teams.