Medicaid changes spur protest
BOISE – About 50 people gathered Monday on the steps of the state Capitol to protest proposed changes in Medicaid they say will hurt low-income people who depend on the program for health care.
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne wants to split Medicaid into three programs: one for healthy children and adults, another for the disabled and a third for the elderly. He also proposes that some recipients pay premiums and co-pays.
Additional out-of-pocket costs would encourage Medicaid recipients to make good choices about their health care and take steps to prevent doctor’s visits or other medical needs, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman Ross Mason said.
“They will be very small,” Mason said. “They should not restrict anyone’s access to health care.”
But protesters – most were with ICAN, the Idaho Community Action Network – said those who depend on Medicaid have no money to spare, not even $10 to cover a co-pay for a doctor’s visit.
“If we have to have a co-pay for insurance, I don’t think we’ll be able to make it,” said Boise resident Karen McWilliams, a Medicaid recipient at the rally.
Medicaid is sponsored by the federal government and administered by states. It’s intended to provide health care and health-related services to low-income individuals.
ICAN representatives complained that the state appears not to have listened to many Idaho residents who spoke up at state-sponsored meetings on Medicaid reform in the past few months.
At least a half-dozen bills addressing Medicaid reform are making their way through the Legislature. Among them is HB 664, which would allow Medicaid recipients with disabilities and who work to still receive benefits if they pay a premium. The premium cost would be calculated on a sliding scale.
HB 662 would endorse the plan to redesign the Medicaid program to include the three different programs for healthy children and adults, the disabled and the elderly. HB 663 would allow the department to create personal accounts for Medicaid recipients.
All of the bills are awaiting legislative committee hearings.