Idaho Senate OKs bill to add Medicaid work requirements

The Senate has approved legislation adding work requirements to Idaho’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion law.

The Senate voted 20-15 Tuesday to send to the House the legislation that’s similar to a House bill a Senate committee killed last week.

The key difference is that the Senate version doesn’t kick people off Medicaid as the House bill did if they don’t fulfill the work requirements.

The Senate has already passed an appropriations bill paying for Medicaid expansion as approved by voters with no work requirements.

But the House has refused to vote on the appropriations bill. Instead, it passed a different bill with work requirements and penalties that kicked people off Medicaid. That bill died in the Senate committee last week.

The current bill is an attempt at a compromise that can also get Republican Gov. Brad Little’s signature.