The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) has reportedly sent a letter to Idaho Governor Butch Otter to study how Arkansas won permission from Washington, D.C., to use federal Medicaid funding to help poor people buy private insurance.
IACI calls Arkansas’ program a “market solution” that interests IACI members, two of whom are St. Luke’s Health System and Saint Alphonsus Health System.
Arkansas won a waiver to use Medicaid funds to subsidize private insurance for low-income residents instead of expanding Medicaid eligibility (as foreseen by President Obama’s insurance overhaul).
The letter also says that IACI aims to reinvigorate discussions about redesigning Idaho’s Medicaid, because doing nothing may harm businesses and taxpayers.
