Idaho’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion could be partially covered by money that typically goes to anti-smoking programs.
Every year Idaho gets millions of dollars from an old lawsuit settlement with major tobacco companies, which usually get spent on initiatives to prevent kids from smoking or stopping adults who do smoke.
The Joint Millennium Fund Committee now is recommending putting that money toward bankrolling Idaho’s Medicaid expansion – something Gov. Brad Little (R) proposed in his budget earlier this month.
Boise Sen. Grant Burgoyne (D-Boise) supports expansion. But he says those dollars have an important job fighting tobacco use and that should take first priority.
“We’re dealing with a drug pusher who is determined to snatch our children from us, to steal them from us and to steal their health and their lives from us and we have money to fight them,” Burgoyne said.
The committee recommends putting $11.7 million toward Medicaid expansion, which would still leave some funding for eight addiction treatment centers across Idaho.
The total cost for expanding Medicaid in Idaho is about $20 million. The rest of the money is expected to come from savings in county and state emergency health initiatives.
The budget writing Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee will make the final call on how – or if – state lawmakers will pay for an expansion later this year.
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