Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter appointed 13 industry stakeholders and lawmakers to look at whether Idaho should create it’s own health insurance exchange, let the federal government take the reins, or a combination of both.
The Associated Press reports at today’s health insurance exchange meeting, KPMG consultant Robert Mitchell explained why Idaho’s time is up. Continue Reading →
Dr. Ted Epperly is the director and CEO of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho based in Boise. Epperly wants to see state support increase for med school and residency programs in Idaho.
Dr. Ted Epperlyis CEO of the Boise-based Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, a program that gives medical students their last three years of training before they become doctors. He was an Army physician for 21 years before returning to work in his native Idaho. In addition to managing the residency program, Epperly is active in state and national health policy.
StateImpactIdaho spoke with him recently for our series on Idaho’s doctor shortage. The state currently has a lower number of doctors per capita than every state in the nation except Mississippi.
We wanted to include more from our interview with Epperly, so here is a portion that has been edited and shortened.
Q: How has medical care in Idaho changed because of the shortage of doctors? Continue Reading →
Idaho is the nation's third-largest cheese producer, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Days after the Idaho State Department of Agriculture touted that Wal-Mart has begun carrying cheeses from Nelson-Ricks Creamery Company’s Rexburg plant, the company announced it will end production this month.
“What’s happened to the company has been devastating,” president Reagan Wood said Monday. “The community and the employees have been impacted, and we did everything we could to not have that happen.”
More than 15 people will lose their jobs because of the closure, Wood confirms, but the company will continue to operate in a different form. It will now get its cheeses from other Idaho manufacturers, and package that cheese at its facility in Salt Lake City, Wood says. Continue Reading →
Among states with fewer than 2 million people, Idaho has the least amount of doctors per capita.
Just because a state doesn’t have its own medical school, doesn’t mean it will have a higher proportion of doctors than states with med schools.
Take a look at this table showing states with populations of less than 2 million people. Fewer than half of these 14 states don’t have their own med school (although some, like Idaho, are part of an agreement to educate doctors through the University of Washington and University of Utah). Continue Reading →
In case you missed something, here’s a look back at the five posts you’ve read, shared, or commented on the most. Check them out, and let us know what you think.
Idaho Power CEO J. LaMont Keen rose through the company's ranks.
Idaho Power CEO J. LaMont Keen‘s base salary rose by 45 percent between 2006 and last year, compensation records show.
Keen’s salary was $436,538 when he was appointed just over six years ago. By 2011, it had risen to $634,423.
“That’s a highly significant increase, especially in the years of recession,” said Harry Schum of Compensation Resources, Inc., a New Jersey-based consulting company that specializes in executive compensation plans. “It would tend to make me believe he was brought in below market level with an aggressive increase to market levels.”
In fact, that does appear to be the explanation for Keen’s rising rate of pay. According to Idaho Power, former company CEO Jan Packwood earned a base salary $630,000 in 2005, the year before Keen took the reins. Continue Reading →
Tax collections to the state’s main bank account came in 3.7 percent above expectations for the month of September.
Three months into this fiscal year, Idaho tax collections are 5.7 percent above the previous year.
Division of Financial Management
September's general fund revenue report.
The Division of Financial Management’s general fund revenue report shows individual income tax, sales tax and product tax collections exceeded the monthly prediction.
Corporate income tax collections and miscellaneous revenue clocked in below forecast amounts. Continue Reading →
The Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center will receive up to $31,500 to train ten registered nurses and a child life specialist for its new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.
The hospital is the first medical center to receive a workforce development training grant through the Labor Department. The grants are a reimbursement of training dollars, paid for by a 3 percent tax on businesses.
The department reports the average wage for these jobs is $24 per hour. In order to receive a training reimbursement, businesses must pay at least $12 an hour plus benefits. Continue Reading →
Thompson Creek Mine is the company's one Idaho location.
Thompson Creek Metals Company answered questions from investors today after announcing yesterday that it will suspend a planned phase of activity at its molybdenum mine in Custer County, resulting in job cuts.
The company expects to lay off 104 of its approximately 400 employees, CEO Kevin Loughrey said today. “They’re going to be primarily truck drivers and then some maintenance people who deal with those trucks,” he explained.
Molybdenum is used in alloying steel. Thompson Creek’s underlying problem is widespread economic weakness, which has driven down prices. Continue Reading →
Lately, we’ve covered the wind industry’s aggressive move into Idaho, and utilities’ attempts to rein in the industry’s expansion in the state. Related to that reporting, it’s worth taking a look at the big picture of electricity generation in Idaho. With that in mind, we posted this map last week. Now, let’s size it up from another angle.
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