Back in April, we told you about how more than 23,000 people had been dropped from Idaho's Medicaid program.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government put "Medicaid Protection" in place which kept folks on health insurance even if they had lost eligibility. But that protection ran out on April 1.

Since then, Idaho Health and Welfare has been re-evaluating the cases of almost 154,000 people to see who is still eligible and who is not and must be dropped from the program.

So far, the number of people who have been dropped was over 23,000. Now, it's more than 35,000 and the number is expected to keep going up.

Many of those folks who have been dropped are turning to the few free health clinics in Idaho for their health care and those clinics are feeling the strain.

Steve Davis, Clinic Director for the Genesis Free and Charitable Clinics in Caldwell and Garden City, and Sherrie Joseph, who directs the Pocatello Clinic joined Idaho Matters to give us an update on the situation.