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,” she said. “I think the docs are going to have to help us. It’s not just expanding Medicaid.”

Belzer said physicians share her concern. “It’s a huge factor nationally if not locally,” he said. Belzer said with patient-centered medical homes and teams addressing each patient’s needs in a coordinated way, “that’s going to make it more cost effective.” He told Lodge, “Virtually every physician would share your concern, and we are doing our best to try to deliver cost effective medical care.” But he said they still want access to care for the 78,000 people in the coverage gap.