Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, has proposed a compromise resolution on funding for cystic fibrosis treatment for adults in Idaho. Legislation to cut the treatment off passed the Senate, but stalled in the House Health & Welfare Committee. Wood said the program serves fewer than 50 people, and eight people who are uninsured account for 80 percent of the cost. His resolution, seconded by Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, would order the state Department of Health & Welfare to develop financial eligibility rules for the program, use the state's high-risk reinsurance pool to help cover the cost of care for those who are uninsured, and make other changes in the program. "There is some indication that we're actually having patients move into Idaho from out of state specifically to benefit from this program," Wood told JFAC. He said none of Idaho's surrounding states offer it. Wood, a retired physician, also proposed a one-time expenditure of $205,000 next year to continue covering those already on the program while the new rules are developed. Both the expenditure and the resolution won JFAC's unanimous support.

Cameron said, "Our desire, I think, is to make sure we take care of those that we've already stepped forward and obligated ourselves to, but not create a mecca in which out-of-state folks will move to Idaho and cause our program to spiral out of control." When the Senate passed the bill to cut off the treatment program, opponents warned that passage of the bill meant people would die.  

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