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 it, that emphasizes primary care, but doesn’t stop there, including full coverage. Idaho would tap federal Medicaid expansion funds for the program. “You can see the breakdown in savings, but the punchline here is that we stand to save $165 million dollars,” she said, by bringing back the share of their federal taxes that Idahoans already have paid, and stopping paying at the state and county level for catastrophic and medical indigency programs that are “inefficient” and “not meeting the need.”

“We don’t believe that having a Band-Aid proposal that covers part of the group with a partial solution is going to cover our health coverage crisis,” Surber said. “We need a full solution that integrates with the delivery system reforms and the payment reforms that we have under way.”

Her group estimated that if Idaho follows its recommendation, it would see $524 million in county savings, new revenue and state savings, while investing $358 million in state funds. That comes to a net gain over five years of $165.5 million for the state.