Arts venues licensed to serve alcohol during live performances depicting sexual acts will no longer face consequences from Idaho State Police under a newly reached agreement. The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, along with several other Boise attorneys representing artists and artistic venues, said Wednesday's lawsuit settlement marks...
In the final discussions between members of the Legislature’s working group on the state’s health coverage gap this afternoon, Co-Chair Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said he believes the case has been made that Idaho should tap federal Medicaid funds at least for mental health services....
It’s more than an hour past the time the Legislature’s committee on the health coverage gap had been scheduled to wrap up this afternoon. Ten more people are on a waiting list to testify if there were time; Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, asked the committee’s…
More testimony to lawmakers from this afternoon: Dr. Jeremy Monroe of Pocatello told of seeing a patient who was making her third emergency-room visit in a week. She had gall bladder disease and needed surgery. She had been referred to a surgeon on both previous…
Marilena Delgado told lawmakers she’s a 51-year-old from Orofino, a mother of four adult children. “I’ve been uninsured for the better part of the last 25 years,” she said. “The only way I have access to health care is to visit the ER. I’ve been...
As testimony continues this afternoon, representatives of groups endorsing closing Idaho’s coverage gap have included AARP, the Idaho Sheriffs Association and the Idaho Association of Counties. Francoise Cleveland of AARP Idaho said coverage is needed to “prevent those in need from getting sicker at taxpayer…
More of today’s testimony: Dr. Marshall Priest, a cardiologist and medical director at St. Luke’s Heart, said, “Every day approximately 78,000 Idahoans face the challenge of living without the stability of health care coverage, forcing them to utilize emergency departments, or go without care until…
Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, noted that the U.S. has higher medical costs than most countries. He asked Dr. Steven Dunn, a longtime family doctor in Sandpoint, who was testifying to lawmakers by phone, “Why should we trust medical professionals to solve this problem if they...
Here’s more of the testimony from this afternoon’s health coverage gap legislative hearing: Dr. Jonathan Miller, an emergency medicine specialist at St. Alphonsus hospital and with the Air National Guard, said, “I’m here to voice my concern over the 78,000 of our neighbors that lack…
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, told Dr. Bruce Belzer, president of the Idaho Medical Association, that she’s concerned about the high cost of medical care overall, including for those who have costly insurance. “The cost is so expensive that nobody, nobody can really afford it,”...
Here’s more of the testimony at today’s health coverage gap hearing: Clella Steinke, mother-in-law of Jenny Steinke, an eastern Idaho woman who died of complications from asthma while she had no health coverage, told the lawmakers, “No one wants to die at 36 years. No...
Dr. Leanne Rousseau of Post Falls told lawmakers that people who “are indenturing themselves for the CAT fund” don’t do so for primary care, but for advanced conditions. “I really feel that primary care for this population is important,” she said. Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise,…
Among those testifying to lawmakers on the health coverage gap this afternoon: Susan Souvenir, who is medical office manager for her husband, Dr. David Souvenir, in Coeur d’Alene, said he is the only board-certified infectious disease specialist in the Idaho Panhandle. They frequently see patients...
Close to 50 people have signed up to offer public testimony to lawmakers this afternoon on Idaho’s health coverage gap. “A word of caution to those who speak to us today,” said Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, co-chair of the legislative panel on the gap. “This…
Jim Baugh, executive director of Disability Rights Idaho, speaking on behalf of the Consortium for Idahoans with Disabilities, told lawmakers this afternoon that thousands of Idahoans with disabilities fall into the state’s health coverage gap, and would be covered if Idaho accepted Medicaid expansion funds....
The final presentation to lawmakers on the health coverage gap working group today is another Idaho Freedom Foundation-backed presentation, from Gregg Pfister, legislative relations director for the Foundation for Government Accountability. He told the panel, “These people need work, not welfare. A full time minimum-wage...
Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, the Senate co-chair of the Legislature’s working group studying the health coverage gap, warned that the panel should limit its focus. “We’re focused on Medicaid. And I don’t want to get us confused with just general insurance companies and how we’re…
As lawmakers questioned Cory Surber and Tim Heinze of the Close the Gap Coalition, Rep. John VanderWoude, R-Nampa, noted that before the national health care reform law passed, lawmakers frequently heard complaints from medical providers about the reimbursement rates under Medicaid. “If the reimbursement rate…
Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, just announced that if people can’t find seats in the room where the Legislature’s working group on the state’s health coverage gap is meeting, WW 17 on the lower level of the state Capitol, there’s overflow space with an audio feed…
Cory Surber of the Close the Gap Coalition said Idaho needs a comprehensive solution to its coverage gap, that builds in lessons learned from the SHIP project and begins to reduce health costs. The coalition is recommending a waiver program, with legislative protections included in...
Tim Heinze, CEO of Valley Family Health Care, discussed the SHIP program with lawmakers this morning, on behalf of the Close the Gap Coalition. “I don’t think that we’re advocating for more, more, more,” he said. “What we’re really trying to do is do something…
Cory Surber, representing the Close the Gap Coalition, told lawmakers, “It’s a very broad-based coalition of a couple hundred organizations, including health care providers, nonprofits, community advocacy groups who are in favor of a complete solution to the coverage gap.” She detailed the four years...
Corey Surber, director of state advocacy for St. Alphonsus, is beginning this morning’s presentation to lawmakers from the Close the Gap Coalition, but first she took some time to address some of the claims already made to lawmakers this morning. “So far this morning, you…
Dr. John Livingston, a retired physician and surgeon who was appointed by Gov. Butch Otter to the Your Health Idaho insurance exchange board, is giving his part of the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s anti-Medicaid expansion pitch to the Legislature’s health coverage gap working group this morning....
Fred Birnbaum, vice president of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, told lawmakers this morning, “You’ve heard from other presenters that the data from other states is good, that Medicaid expansion has benefited them economically. But there’s a problem with that.” He noted that Medicaid expansion is...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
