Medicaid service providers and advocates for people who receive Medicaid voice many concerns about the nearly $35 million cut in state spending approved by the Idaho Legislature early this year. Underlying their anxiety about provider layoffs and service reductions for adult Medicaid recipients is the fact that all of the changes approved in the last legislative session went into state statute. For Katherine Hansen, Executive Director of Community Partnerships of Idaho, that’s a problem. “All of those changes went into law, so now you have to go into law to get those things changed,” she said. “And yet those were things that were proposed as short-term, temporary things to help save.”
Legislators knew, in the 2010 session, they were looking at a Medicaid funding problem. Enrollment was rising, and the federal contribution to Idaho’s program, which temporarily increased thanks to federal stimulus dollars, was scheduled to go back down. So they started the hard work of figuring out how to cut spending. Continue Reading →
Here’s a look back at the five most commented, clicked and viewed stories of the week. In case you missed something, we put them all in one handy place:
Six Months In, Evaluating the Effects of a Medicaid Cut: Idaho’s Medicaid program is dealing with a $100 million cut. The economic and personal reverberations are more difficult to tally, but they include job loss and a change in quality of life for some of Idaho’s most vulnerable residents. “It’s inhumane to watch what’s happening to people with disabilities in our state,” said Christine Pisani, program specialist with the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities.
To understand the challenges Idaho’s Medicaid program has faced in recent years, it’s important to understand the numbers. As we noted in earlier reporting, Medicaid enrollment has grown by more than 20 percent since 2008.
Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
The result is greater spending. As the graph below illustrates, state Medicaid expenditures peaked in the 2011 fiscal year, which ended in June. That peak came just after the state saw Medicaid enrollment increase by more than 9 percent from 2009 to 2010. It was the largest increase the program had seen in eight years. Continue Reading →
As we reported earlier today, the Division of Financial Management released its monthly state revenue report, which shows November tax collections didn’t meet expectations. Collections were $5.4 million below DFM’s monthly forecast.
State of Idaho
Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter
In advance of this news, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter sent this letter to his Cabinet, warning any projected budget surplus isn’t likely.
“Unfortunately, actual revenues once again are significantly lower than projections. For November, collections were $5.4 million short of the projection, for a cumulative year-to-date shortfall of $16.2 million. In addition, even the lower-than-projected November figure was bolstered by one-time funds from the unclaimed property account. Without this unanticipated $5.8 million, the year-to-date shortfall would be about $22 million and all five categories of General Fund revenue would have been negative for the month.” – Governor Otter
It’s important to note the state is not currently facing a $16.2 million shortfall, as reported here. The legislature’s chief budget analyst, Cathy Holland-Smith, says that $16.2 million figure is the difference between DFM’s year-to-date revenue projection and actual money in the bank. The state won’t know if its finances are in the red or the black until end of the fiscal year (June 2012).
The Division of Financial Management today reported Idaho’s main bank account was $5.4 million below November’s forecast. DFM attributes the monthly shortage to weak individual income taxes and sales taxes. Idaho’s sales tax collections have missed projected targets every month this fiscal year.
“This month’s performance not only missed its forecast, but it was 4.1% lower than it was in November 2010. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, the sales tax trails its forecast by $18.9 million. This category’s recent string of sub-par showings has raised concerns whether the sales tax will be able to recover enough to meet its targets during the important holiday shopping season.”
“November is traditionally a month of large corporate income tax refunds, but actual payouts were even larger than expected—$5.0 million instead of $4.6 million. But refunds were not the sole reason for the corporate income tax’s negative showing in November. Filing collections were about $0.6 million below its forecast, $1.9 million versus $2.4 million. Adding to this month’s shortfall was the nearly $0.1-million gap between actual and forecasted estimated payments. Despite this month’s retreat, the fiscal year-to-date corporate income tax exceeds its forecast by $1.5 million.”
It’s relatively simple to describe the Medicaid cut approved by the Idaho Legislature early this year. State leaders made about $35 million in targeted cuts. That meant fewer federal matching dollars, and a total funding loss of nearly $100 million to the state’s Medicaid program. The economic and personal reverberations are more difficult to tally, but they include job loss and a change in quality of life for some of Idaho’s most vulnerable residents.
Bruce Vladeck, who directed the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs for four years in the 1990s, summed up the Medicaid program this way. “Medicaid isn’t rocket science,” he said. “It’s harder and more expensive.” Years later, a poster echoing those words hangs in Idaho Medicaid Administrator Paul Leary’s office.
It’s true that in the world of social programs, Medicaid is one of the hardest to understand. It’s something of a catch-all program for low-income people, covering broad and divergent needs. Included are healthy children and adults with eligible dependent children, people with disabilities or special health needs, and the elderly. Eligibility, which is income-based, varies according to the category of qualification for the program.
The Idaho Business Review and IdahoReporter.com are reporting that Representative Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) is working with a coalition headed by the American Cancer Society to raise Idaho’s tobacco tax next year.
The state currently charges a 57 cent tax on a pack of cigarettes, which is the one of the lowest tax rates in the country. Rep. Lake may sponsor a proposal that would tack on an additional $1.25 to Idaho’s tobacco tax, bringing it up to $1.82.
Rep. Lake is chairman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, which is where tax bills begin the process. Here’s what the Idaho Business Review is reporting: Continue Reading →
The state legislature’s website lists phone numbers and standard email forms for each legislator. You can to search for your lawmaker by legislative district or by name. If you don’t know either of those, the website provides contact info for your county’s election official, who will be able to give you the right information.
The state website also lists committee assignments for each legislator. Some of the information on the legislature’s website is slightly out of date but it will be updated by the time the session convenes.
Idaho’s 105 legislators are in town for three months each year. It’s known as a citizen legislature, meaning Idaho’s lawmakers aren’t full-time politicians. Most have other careers.
Legislative compensation is established by a citizens’ committee, subject to rejection by the full Legislature. Legislators receive $16,116 per year, plus expenses for housing and travel during the session, and a constituent service allowance of $2,200. The President Pro Tem and Speaker receive an additional $4,000 per year. – Idaho State Legislature’s website
A Ketchum, Idaho business is one of 36 winners in a nationwide contest sponsored by American Express and Google. The Idaho Department of Commerce announced today Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee is one winner in the My Business Story contest.
Here is Liz Roquet’s winning video:
The Department of Commerce reports Roquet won a $5,000 digital media plan for her coffee shop courtesy of American Express and Google.
“We’re so excited to have been selected as one of the contest winners, and love the efforts behind the Shop Small promotion,” says Liz Roquet, Owner of Lizzy’s Fresh coffee. “Small businesses across the country are a core asset to their local communities. I hope people are inspired by the diverse and unique small businesses featured as the 36 contest winners, and make an effort shop at a small businesses.”
Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee was founded in 2008.
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