Redman, Barbieri discuss health care options, among other topics

ATHOL — Rep. Eric Redman guaranteed attendees at a town hall Saturday that Medicaid would not be expanded in Idaho this legislative session.

Eleven people attended the health care town hall hosted by Redman, R-Athol, at the Athol Community Center. Redman — a second-term representative who serves on the health and welfare committee — was joined by Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, for the discussion on several healthcare issues generating debate in Boise.

One question that generated a great deal of discussion from both the audience and the representatives involved an immunization bill, voted for by Redman in committee, that is generating staunch opposition from the Idaho Freedom Foundation. Redman gave background on the bill, which he said allows health care providers the ability to see the entire immunization record of a patient through a state-run database.

“That prevents someone from getting a duplicate immunization, which can be challenging for one’s health,” Redman said. “All it does is keep a record of your shots. If you don’t get an immunization, you don’t have to list it on there.”

If an individual prefers not to be on the database, the bill would allow them not to, Redman added.

Barbieri said his perspective is different because he has a constituent with a program that allows individuals to have a flash drive containing their entire medical history, which would inform a medical provider enough to treat any conditions.

“Lists of anything are not necessarily a good thing,” Barbieri said. “So if you have your own data and are able to carry that, why are we continuing to look at public databases? There are better solutions than a central database.”

When asked by an attendee who would maintain the database, Redman said it would likely be ran through the state’s department of health and welfare.

“It is a secured database, it is not a federal database,” Redman added.

Another attendee said that every time a law or regulation is passed, It cost that person something. Isn’t that cost passed on to the consumer? If you register everyone who gets a vaccination, the attendee added, that cost will be passed on to the consumer.

Redman responded that, while it’s true with most regulations, the immunization database uses a cheap computer program that most providers already have access to.

One individual told the representatives he is having a hip replacement surgery in April, and is considered self-insured. That self-insured status, he added, allowed him to shop around for the best price on where the surgery would be held.

The fee at Kootenai Health for using the operating room, according to the man, was $57,000 while Northwest Specialty cost $14,000.

A friend in the same situation added that Blue Cross would not allow him to get a surgery at Northwest.

“How does Kootenai Health build a monopoly at four times the cost?” the attendee asked.

Barbieri said overall, a network is the fundamental right of health care providers in the free market and they have the right to choose which hospitals are under their network.

Redman and Barbieri were also at another town hall meeting in Hayden on Saturday afternoon, with Redman stating he could potentially host more of the meetings in March.