For a healthier Idaho, do the right thing

Jerry: Did you know that Idaho’s State Health Exchange is second highest in the nation for enrollment per capita? Over 100,000 Idahoans are signed up. Our uninsured rate has dropped 17 percent.

Carrie: It’s already saving Idaho taxpayers a bundle. A bill has been introduced to the Legislature which would transfer $29 million in unspent CAT funds back into the state general fund.

Jerry: Remind me what the CAT fund does?

Carrie: Idaho has a unique system for covering catastrophic medical costs for the uninsured. The county indigent funds pay the first $11,000 of each claim using our local property taxes. The state CAT fund picks up the rest, using funds paid, once again, by good old Idaho taxpayers.

Jerry: Not to mention the hospitals often write off huge costs which are passed onto us in the form of higher rates for medical services.

Carrie: Let’s take a closer look at the county indigent and CAT fund savings. Last year, our state and counties spent $36.3 million on catastrophic medical costs for the uninsured, down from $51.5 million the prior year. That’s a 25 percent decrease!

Jerry: It’s interesting to note that the county indigent and CAT fund costs peaked in 2012 at $55 million, the year before the Legislature enacted the state health exchange. $38.6 million came from the state general fund with the counties paying the rest. Every dime of that was paid by guess who?

Carrie: Idaho taxpayers, of course! Yet most of the Republicans in our Legislature are still adamantly opposed to Obamacare. They claim it’s increasing our federal deficit.

Jerry: If that’s the case, maybe our legislators will send the $29 million in savings back to the feds instead of the state general fund?

Carrie: Don’t be ridiculous.

Jerry: Speaking of ridiculous, many Republican legislators are also against providing any kind of health care coverage for the 78,000 “working poor” Idahoans caught in the Medicaid gap.

Carrie: Sadly, these are Idaho’s minimum and low wage earners, often working two jobs to make ends meet.

Jerry: Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle’s (R-Star) $29 million tax cut bill, which mainly benefits the top income earners in our state, sails through the House. Can they really be that tone deaf?

Carrie: Currently there are two serious Medicaid gap proposals. Senate Bill 1205 would allow the state to accept federal funds to pay health insurance premiums for some Medicaid gap folks with the rest getting enrolled in a managed Medicaid program. This would save us Idaho taxpayers $55 million in state and county CAT funds.

Jerry: The other proposal, by Governor Otter, is to enroll the Medicaid gap folks into a clinic based program (PCAP) which provides basic primary care but won’t cover the costs of hospitalization or specialists like cancer doctors. Unlike the other bill which saves us money, this will cost state taxpayers $30 million.

Carrie: Hmm...that’s about the same amount as Rep. Moyle’s tax cut bill for the wealthy! But wouldn’t half a loaf be better than nothing at all?

Jerry: It’s more like a tenth of a loaf. It’s time for our legislators to remember Mark Twain’s advice. “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Jerry is a retired farmer/rancher and native Idahoan. Carrie is a retired nonprofit administrator. They live in Idaho Falls.