Lawmakers weigh in on gap coverage options…

Among those on the Legislature’s health coverage panel weighing in with their ideas today:

Rep. John VanderWoude , R-Nampa, said he favors not accepting federal Medicaid expansion funds, but making grants of state funds for primary care for people in the coverage gap. “I think the best way to cut the cost is keep the middleman out of it, which would be the insurance companies and everything else,” VanderWoude said. He said any program also should include accountability requirements for those participating. “We all make choices. I made the choice 36-some years ago to move to Idaho and I’ve been paying for it ever since,” he said to laughter. “But we all make choices in life.” He said, “We have a lot of people that don’t make good health care choices, and I think we need to start making it so that there are consequences if you don’t.”

Sen. Maryanne Jordan , D-Boise, said she believes Medicaid expansion needs to stay on the table as an option for the 78,000 Idahoans in the coverage gap. She said if lawmakers want to cut health care costs, the state’s SHIP program is a good example. “SHIP was a federal grant, managed very, very well,” she said. Jordan said no one should say “that acceptance of federal dollars is not something we’re going to be able to make succeed in an Idaho way, because clearly we have an ability to do that.” She said primary care is “definitely part of the solution, but it is not the solution for the people in the gap, nor is it solution for counties and the CAT fund.”

Sen. Jim Guthrie , R-McCammon, said that “recognition of folks wanting to do something seems to be pretty uniform across the grid. … We’re recognizing that something needs to be done. We’re recognizing we can’t just ignore it.” Guthrie said, “I feel like there’s more awareness of the issue today than there has been. … I think we have to be willing to set down our biases and some of our things if we’re truly going to solve the problem.”

Sen. Steven Thayn , R-Emmett, said, “I’m not wanting to refuse to accept federal money on primary care on principle. I feel like you can’t take federal money on primary care if you’re wanting to reduce costs, because of federal rules. … I’m not totally opposed to all federal money, I think there are some places it makes some sense. But I just see too many restrictions, especially if you want some accountability on the primary care side.”

Sen. Patti Anne Lodge , R-Huston, said, “We know we have to do something, we know we have to help these people. We’ve got to teach them to fish. We’ve got to teach them to accept some responsibility for their health care before they get into a position where they are in a crisis situation.”