New Idaho Medicaid expansion ‘sideboard’ bill introduced

A new Medicaid expansion “sideboard” bill that would require some Medicaid recipients to work at least 20 hours a week and require people over 100 percent of the federal poverty level to keep private insurance was introduced in the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday.

A hearing on the bill from Republican Rep. John Vander Woude of Nampa is expected to be held on Wednesday. In addition to the 20-hour-per-week work requirement, the bill would require people who are between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level to continue paying for private insurance on the state-run health exchange. That requirement would only be lifted if the state fails to get federal approval for the plan by the start of next year, in which case those individuals would be moved to Medicaid coverage.

The legislation is one of many proposals that seeks to add sideboards to the voter-approved Medicaid expansion initiative.