JFAC approves Medicaid supplementals, ongoing hospital assessment and other FY2026 enhancements

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on an affirmative vote approved a package of fiscal year 2025 Medicaid supplementals and a separate set of fiscal year 2026 budget enhancements that together add federal, dedicated and general fund spending for the Division of Medicaid within the Department of Health and Welfare.

Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the FY2025 supplemental bundle includes several items required to meet federal and contractual obligations and to cover updated forecasts. "Line 7 is the Medicaid updated forecast... they are asking for an additional $113,800,000 to meet those entitlement program costs," Williamson said. She also described supplemental requests for a managed care external quality review, implementation costs related to the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan, a capitation‑rate adjustment for that same behavioral health plan, and an increased hospital assessment to access additional federal funds.

Why it matters: The votes increase short‑term and ongoing Medicaid appropriations and authorize the state to transmit additional hospital assessment funds to draw down federal matching dollars. Committee members repeatedly framed the actions as paying accrued bills and setting up ongoing funding for federally required work and multi‑year IT and actuarial support.

Most important facts: For FY2025 the committee approved one‑time supplementals that include a $1,350,000 appropriation for the managed care external quality review, $695,500 for Idaho Behavioral Health Plan system configuration costs, $113,849,300 for an updated Medicaid forecast, $108,821,400 to cover capitation‑rate increases for the behavioral health plan, and $190,510,600 in hospital assessment funds. The reported total for that supplemental package was $415,226,800, funded by a mix of…