On Medicaid reimbursement rates and expansion…

As lawmakers questioned Cory Surber and Tim Heinze of the Close the Gap Coalition, Rep. John VanderWoude, R-Nampa, noted that before the national health care reform law passed, lawmakers frequently heard complaints from medical providers about the reimbursement rates under Medicaid. “If the reimbursement rate is non-profitable, why should we add 78,000 people to it?” he asked. Surber responded, “Medicaid payment rates change over time. … We get less underpayment now than we got prior to Obamacare. Getting some underpayment is better than no payment, is one way I would respond.”