Armstrong: Idaho’s challenge: How to make Medicaid sustainable

Idaho’s big challenge, state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers this morning, is this: “Where do we go from here to make Medicaid sustainable?” He said it’s unrealistic to think Idaho can continue to make pricing and benefit reductions to balance the budget. Instead, the state should look toward a new managed-care type model designed to improve patient outcomes, accessibility and coordination of care, “especially for high-cost participants with multiple conditions.” Armstrong said the answer will require “collaboration and compromise from all stakeholders,” and there’s no single solution that works for every state.

The Department of Health & Welfare’s budget request for next year is $2.4 billion in total funds, of which $616.8 million, or 25.4 percent, would come from state general funds. Of that $2.4 billion total, $1.98 billion - 81.5 percent - is in Medicaid, the program that provides health coverage for the poor and disabled.