Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron told the House Health & Welfare Committee this morning, at the hearing on HB 464, the Idaho Health Care Plan, “This is an innovative, creative solution that addresses the problems we’re having here in Idaho. … The goals of this proposal are to assist those who are priced out by lowering the cost of insurance, and to help those who are left out by waiving the rules of Obamacare.”

He said 200,000 Idahoans are currently uninsured, including about 50,000 “who can’t qualify for a subsidy and who are left out because they don’t make enough income. These are families in your district,” he told the lawmakers.

Under the plan, Idaho insurance carriers would be directed to lower their rates by 20 percent as a result of the changes, Cameron said. “I can guarantee you that if HB 464 doesn’t pass, that rates will be 20 percent higher than they would be otherwise,” he told the committee.