BOISE, ID – In Idaho, doctors and a flurry of health care services contribute billions to the state’s economy, a new economic report found.
Commissioned by the Idaho Medical Association and the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare Foundation, the report comes weeks before the Idaho Legislature will convene for the 2026 session. And the report’s findings could come in handy for some policy debates in the Statehouse, as state lawmakers will likely resume heated talks about how medical education can help alleviate the state’s severe doctor shortage.
“We just thought this was a great opportunity at this moment, especially as our state Legislature has been talking about the physician workforce and what does it take to maintain and grow what we have,” Idaho Medical Association CEO Susie Keller told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview. “And so having this kind of information, I think, really shows what a worthwhile investment it is for the state of Idaho to put state dollars into funding residency training, for instance.”
This spring, after blowback over a bill that could have ended Idaho’s partnership with the University of Washington Medical school through WWAMI, the Legislature passed a bill to direct the state to explore adding more state-funded seats for Idaho students in other programs.
Key takeaway is ‘physicians matter,’ economist says
Services by doctors alone contributed $2.3 billion in output or sales, out of the health care sector’s $10.4 billion overall economic activity in the state, according to the report by University of Idaho economist Steven Peterson.
The key takeaway from the study is that “physicians matter,” Peterson told the Sun in an interview.
“They matter two ways. One is they make us healthier, or help heal us from our ailments,” he said. “But the other part of this — and I don’t know that people fully realize — is how important the offices and the services they offer are a part of the regional economy.”
Each year, a doctor in Idaho generates $1.34 million in economic activity, and generates more than $46,000 in state and local taxes, the report found.
Report’s data suggests state’s abortion ban loses $125M from economy each year, group says
And the report’s data might even illustrate the economic costs of the state’s strict abortion ban, one group says.
In a news release, the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare Foundation said the report delivered data to suggest that “the loss of obstetric providers due to the state’s near-total abortion ban is draining more than $125 million a year from the economy.”
The report itself doesn’t say that. But Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare Executive Director Amber Nelson said the group generated that figure by applying the economic impact of each individual physician, which the study pegged at $1.34 million annually, and across the 94 OB-GYNs who left Idaho since the state’s abortion ban took effect, based on a finding from a peer-reviewed study published earlier this year.
“We’re hoping that this report will provide the Legislature with the information that can help them as they look at policy issues, policy decisions, votes around things such as medical education, legalizing safe, evidence-based healthcare and really working from a policy perspective to make Idaho a more hospitable place for physicians to practice medicine,” Nelson told the Sun in an interview.
Contributions+of+Idaho+Physicians+to+the+State+Economy+2025+Executive+Summary+FINAL+FINAL2 (1)
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
