Medicaid budget set on unanimous vote in JFAC

A unanimous, 16-0 vote in JFAC this morning set the budget for Medicaid for next year, which reflects a 3.4 percent increase in state general funds; 6.2 percent in total funds. The budget, proposed by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene; and Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, matches the governor’s recommendation with the exception of $1 million less in funding for non-discretionary adjustments. Lawmakers said they believed the department had sufficient funds to cover that.

The budget includes an increase of $1.5 million, $442,000 of that in state general funds, in the “personal needs allowance” for disabled and elderly people on Medicaid; that allowance hasn’t been raised in a decade. The budget, at $519.6 million in state general funds and $2.23 billion total, still needs approval from both houses and the governor’s signature to become law, but budgets rarely change once they’re set by the joint committee.