Idaho Legislature ‘Shortsighted’ in Attempt to Control Medicaid Spending, Op-Ed Says

By limiting use and funding of the state's Children's Health Insurance Program to control Medicaid spending, Idaho's Legislature "made a serious mistake," Larry Belmont, former director of the Panhandle Health District, writes in an Spokane Spokesman-Review op-ed. Since Idaho's CHIP -- a Medicaid-expansion program -- began, the state has not used all of its federal CHIP allotment, Belmont says, noting that a Legislature-approved bill (S 1274) actually limits the amount of state money that can be spent on CHIP, thereby limiting the federal matching money the state can receive. The bill also restricts "outreach efforts in all programs to minimum level allowed by federal law," Belmont adds. By approving the bill, lawmakers "shot themselves in the thigh before they could take careful aim at their foot," Belmont says. He calls such restrictions "wrong" because in the long run, Idaho could save money by "taking advantage of CHIP now. Preventive health measures pay future dividends of healthy populations." Belmont adds, "The legislators' shortsighted attempt to save a couple of dollars set the stage for more-costly emergency room services, increased school absences, increased hospitalizations, more chronic illnesses and a lack of proper immunization for the very group that benefits greatly from such medical services." Belmont concludes, "It is now time for the public to lobby for kids. Tell your legislator to give CHIP proper consideration. It is an excellent investment in the future" (Belmont, Spokane Spokesman-Review, 6/6).