The House Health & Welfare Committee has voted unanimously this morning to introduce legislation from Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, to repeal the county medical indigency program and the state catastrophic health care program in 2016. “That’s basically all that it does,” Loertscher told the committee. He said the delay “would give them a chance to get everything wound up before that happens, and also to give the Legislature a chance to come up with a plan to replace it, if that is the desire of the Legislature.”

Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said if the programs are repealed, “The hospitals then would have no recourse other than to pass this along to other insured or paying clients.” Loertscher said, “That’s the reason for the delay in the implementation. That gives us another year to consider how to handle this. I think it’s very important that we do consider this and keep this on the forefront of our discussions for the next year.”

Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, said, “I think it’s a discussion that we should certainly look at,” so she moved to introduce the bill. Rusche said, “I’m going to support the emotion. I think, though, that this is only half of the question, and to the extent that it focuses our attention on a real issue and a real opportunity for Idaho, it’s certainly well worth the discussion.” Committee Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, said he “certainly” agreed.

The committee also agreed, after several questions, to introduce a bill from Rep. Janet Trujillo, R-Idaho Falls, to turn away all those who come to the indigency/CAT fund program but would qualify for subsidies on the state health insurance exchange, and instead direct those patients to the exchange. She estimated the change could save the state general fund $12 million and county property taxpayers $6 million.