Bill Description: Senate Bill 1267 would instruct the Department of Health and Welfare to seek ways to expand the Medicaid for Workers with Disabilities program in Idaho.
Rating: -3
Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
Medicaid is one of the largest and most expensive government programs, always growing in size, scope, and spending. Through it, people are becoming increasingly dependent on government and private providers are being forced out of the market. The state of Idaho should be seeking opportunities to reduce Medicaid, not expand it.
The Medicaid for Workers with Disabilities program in Idaho allows adults with disabilities who are working and earning up to 500% of the federal poverty level, after exclusions and disregards, to continue receiving subsidized healthcare through Medicaid. The program is currently available to those ages 16-64.
Senate Bill 1267 would create Section 56-276, Idaho Code, to instruct the Department of Health and Welfare to “identify and evaluate policy options for individuals enrolled in or transitioning from the medicaid for workers with disabilities program.”
Among the suggested policies to evaluate are “options to modify, remove, or provide alternatives to age-related eligibility limits” and “alternative methods in which income or resources may be considered for affected individuals.”
The bill also lists priorities for the department’s evaluations including preserving “incentives to work and save”; recognizing “assets earned through employment”; supporting “continuity of coverage and community living”; and avoiding “unintentionally penalizing individuals for prior employment or savings.”
Notably absent from this list of priorities are any mandates to reduce the state’s spending or reliance on debt-financed federal dollars.
The purpose of this bill is to pave the way for further expanding a redistributive, big-government, socialized health care program.
(-1)
Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
The Medicaid for Workers with Disabilities program is funded through a combination of tax dollars and government debt, and expanding the program will require more spending and debt. The majority of Medicaid spending comes from debt-financed federal funds, which leads to higher inflation and devalued savings. And one day, the enormous debt that today’s lawmakers are piling up will come due — and future generations will be the ones who have to pay it.
(-1)
Does it violate the principles of federalism by increasing federal authority, yielding to federal blandishments, or incorporating changeable federal laws into Idaho statutes or rules? Examples include citing federal code without noting as it is written on a certain date, using state resources to enforce federal law, and refusing to support and uphold the Tenth Amendment. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the principles of federalism?
A majority of the funding for Medicaid comes from the federal government, which means that as the program grows, the state becomes increasingly dependent on debt-financed federal dollars, and those federal dollars become an ever-larger share of the state budget. As has been seen with Medicaid and other federal programs, federal dollars come with strings that obligate the state to comply with policies and priorities that frequently go against its best interests.
Medicaid and its various ancillary programs are filled with federal mandates and regulations. Senate Bill 1267 calls for the Department of Health and Welfare to provide a report to the Legislature’s Health and Welfare committees detailing its findings and listing “any federal approvals that would be required.”
(-1)
