Insurance budget bill draws debate in Senate

It took an hour of debate that ran through the lunch hour yesterday before the Idaho Senate passed the budget bill fro the Department of Insurance on a 20-15 vote. The hangup: The inclusion of $2.5 million in federal money for the initial planning of a state health insurance exchange, reports Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman; you can read his post here . Murphy reports that Sens. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, and Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth, called the money “bait” and worried that by taking the money Idaho was undercutting its lawsuit and becoming trapped into implementing the federal health care act, a characterization strongly disputed by the bill’s sponsor, Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. Earlier in JFAC, a motion to set the department’s budget without the $2.5 million failed, drawing only five votes on the 20-member joint committee.