Idaho offers break to uninsured workers

Tom Lopac has a wife, five children, a full-time job and no health insurance.

Lopac, who works for Sunshine Window Cleaning in Boise, and his family have been uninsured since he changed jobs in 2003. He has spent several thousand dollars out of his pocket in medical fees for his family, mostly on his children.

"It has basically depleted the kids’ college funds," he said.

The state’s new Access to Health Insurance program will help make health insurance more affordable for Lopac.

Lopac, his wife and about 26 other Idahoans are the first to be accepted in the state program, which began July 1 and offers financial assistance on health care premiums for uninsured small business employees below a certain income level.

Officials at the state Department of Health and Welfare, which runs the Access to Health Insurance program, say they are satisfied with the early response from Idaho businesses.

Melissa McGrath
The Idaho Statesman

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