The federal government intends to take over the role of reviewing increases of health insurance premiums in Idaho, the Idaho Statesman reported today; the federal decision may be the first real effect of Gov. Butch Otter's executive order barring the state from carrying out any component of the 2010 federal health care overhaul. Among the reasons: Idaho can't meet the federal law's requirements for oversight on health insurance rates, in part because it doesn't disclose health insurance rate increases to the public. You can read the Statesman's full story here.

The Idaho AARP says the combination of state budget cuts with cutbacks in health coverage for part-time state workers and shifting state retirees off the state health plan onto Medicare is “a combination that spells health care disaster for many Idaho residents,” and the organization is calling on lawmakers to address the issue.  “It doesn’t make any sense to pull the rug out from underneath Idaho’s part-time state employees and retirees, while continuing to weaken the programs in the community where people turn in times of crisis,” said Jim Wordelman, AARP Idaho state director.  “AARP members in Idaho – half of whom are in the workforce – are looking to their elected officials at the state and federal level to tackle this issue now.” Click below to read AARP Idaho’s full news release.

Gov. Butch Otter has released his letter responding to House and Senate Democrats who formally requested him to delay a sharp increase in health insurance premiums for part-time state employees. In it, Otter maintains the state will see higher savings than initial estimates have shown from the move, and sticks by the decision, refusing to delay it. “I am committed to working toward making healthcare more accessible and affordable for all Idahoans,” he wrote. “We are working with insurers, providers and other stakeholders every day to advance that effort. However, using taxpayer dollars to subsidize the healthcare premiums of part-time State employees comes at the expense of many who have no healthcare at all, and no opportunity to obtain it.” You can read the full letter here.

Gov. Butch Otter is defending a move to sharply increase health insurance costs for part-time state employees, even though some will face premiums that exceed their take-home pay. “This is the same thing the city of Boise does, the University of Idaho does, every company in the private sector that I know of, does the very same thing,” Otter said Wednesday. “If you’re a part-time employee, you receive part-time benefits. So I say we’re being competitive with the marketplace.”

Since he became governor, Otter has been pushing to raise state workers’ pay while cutting benefits, to make their compensation more like the private sector. But the state’s economic downturn has put the brakes on any pay increases; rather than raises, state workers these days are seeing furloughs and other cutbacks. Nevertheless, Otter’s director of administration, Mike Gwartney, is pushing forward with the benefits change for part-time employees, effective Nov. 1. Those who can’t afford the new premiums can drop health insurance. The House and Senate Democratic caucuses sent a letter to Otter this week formally requesting the governor to delay the move, but he said Wednesday that he won’t. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Idaho’s Senate and House Democratic caucuses have sent a joint letter to Gov. Butch Otter, on behalf of all 25 Democrats serving in the House and Senate, formally requesting the governor to delay a plan to impose much higher premiums on part-time state employees for their health insurance on Nov. 1. “We are particularly disappointed with the timing of this action by your office and the lack of formal legislative or public hearing in your decision making,” the lawmakers wrote. “The announcement of this major shift in policy came exactly one week after the 2009 legislative session adjourned. It came without any formal or public discussion in the Legislature. Moreover, the fact that the cost shift is slated to be implemented on November 1 means it will go into effect before the Legislature returns for the upcoming session.”

The hike, which is being pushed by Otter’s director of administration, Mike Gwartney, means some part-timers will face premiums that exceed their entire state pay; those who can’t pay will lose their health coverage. The legislators, in their letter, warned that any savings the state sees from the move likely would be be eaten up by increased costs in Medicaid or the Catastrophic Health Care fund as uncovered workers turn to public assistance. “Rather than shifting insurance costs onto workers who can ill afford them, efforts should be made to use the State’s bargaining position to lower State government’s health care costs as a whole,” they wrote to the governor. “You are in a critical position to lead such an effort and we encourage you to do so.” You can read the full letter here.

Senate Minority Leader Kate Kelly, D-Boise, said lawmakers have been hearing “just these awful stories” from the affected part-time state workers. “This is 25 legislators saying, ‘This isn’t the best policy, in terms of the execution and what’s being done here,” she said. “It’s just frightening for these families.”

While the number of Americans without health insurance has been rising for the past decade, the picture is different in Idaho, where the percentage who lack insurance has stayed roughly the same - except when it comes to children. Far more of Idaho’s children were covered by health insurance in 2008 than in 1999, according to the latest U.S. Census data, with the percentage of uninsured kids dropping from 19.8 percent in 1999 to 8.9 percent last year. The reason: It wasn’t just the start of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997; it was a private foundation’s efforts to promote that program that alerted many Idahoans that their kids qualified for coverage, either through that government program or others. “We saw a huge increase, mostly in regular Medicaid, that’s mostly all children,” said Idaho Health & Welfare spokesman Tom Shanahan; it also happens that children are among the least costly populations to insure.

The U.S. Census data, which comes from the annual Current Population Survey, shows that if children were taken out of the equation, Idaho’s rate of uninsured residents under age 65 stayed about the same from 1999 to 2008, at 21 percent. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Young Idaho mom Amanda Buchanan picked up an old copy of “Consumer Reports” in her local library in Weiser and began leafing through it last year, and saw a call for health care stories that people wanted to share. She had just the thing. Now, the magazine’s “Cover America Tour” project has made the young, uninsured Idaho mom the face of health care challenges in Idaho - and she’s hosting a letter-writing event for health care reform today at Boise’s Municipal Park. Consumer Reports suggested it as a way to do something about the problem, she explained; she’s by the big, yellow banners that say “Write a Letter for Health Care Reform,” and is scheduled to be there until 5.

Amanda and husband Jason Vlcek wanted to have a second child, but adding the family to his insurance coverage at work - he’s an elementary school teacher - would cost the young family $820 a month in premiums, 34 percent of their household income. They couldn’t afford it. “It got to the point where the insurance was just too high - it was eating into our basic needs,” Buchanan said. She wondered if they could afford to have a second child.

A private policy for Amanda cost less, but carried an additional $5,000 maternity deductible.  They decided on a plan: She’d buy private insurance, but after the baby was born, she’d cancel hers, and use that money to pay down her medical debt, while purchasing a separate private policy just for the new baby. Meanwhile, Jason’s school district began offering a “catastrophic” insurance plan, with a $3,000 deductible, after which only 50 percent of costs are paid. They signed Jason and toddler son Kwei up. “I just wasn’t going to leave him uninsured,” she said, watching the active 2-year-old toddle around the park. New baby Merin is now six months old.

State Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a physician and the House minority leader, said when lawmakers commissioned a study of the uninsured in Idaho, “It’s just these people - young, employed. … typically young people, who were working but just couldn’t afford it.” The 2007 study showed 18 percent of Idaho’s non-elderly population uninsured, but much higher figures for young adults - 38 percent for those age 18 to 24, and 28 percent for those age 25 to 34; it also showed that 60 percent of Idaho’s uninsured adults are employed.

Amanda knows she’s taking a risk, and it concerns her. But she and her family also are healthy - aside from giving birth, she’s never been admitted to a hospital, and hasn’t gone to the doctor since 2004. “The fact is, the cost of decent insurance cripples my family financially,” she said.