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Population increases and medical contract talks push Idaho DOC placement costs up
Summary
Legislative analysts told the committee county and out‑of‑state placement per diem and rising medical utilization are driving supplemental requests; DOC said medical-contract negotiations could add 10% if renewed with the current vendor or 30–40% if bid competitively.
Analysts told the Joint Finance Preparations Committee that population changes and increased medical utilization are driving requests for additional appropriations in the county placement and medical services budgets for the Idaho Department of Correction.
Noah Peterson said population-driven costs led to a general-fund increase of about $2.958 million in a prior fiscal-year adjustment, and later-year projections produced additional supplemental needs. For FY2026 the agency sought an ongoing population-driven adjustment of approximately $4.0279 million to align the base per-diem funding with updated population projections.
Medical contract negotiations: Peterson said IDOC is negotiating a new medical contract with its current provider. He reported that if negotiations succeed, IDOC projects a roughly 10% increase in medical-contract costs; if negotiations fail and the contract goes to competitive bid, the agency projects a 30%–40% increase in the medical contract.
County per-diem rates and statutory context: Director Josh Tewalt told the committee that county-jail per-diem rates are set in statute and explained the bifurcated rate structure was intended to encourage quicker state pickup of inmates from county jails. Tewalt noted the statute sets a lower per diem for stays of seven days or less and a higher rate for longer stays.
Why it matters: These population and medical-cost pressures affect the department’s operating budget and could alter other program choices if the committee must reallocate funds. Peterson said per-diem calculations in the budget have not changed for FY2025; the supplemental requests reflect changes in projected populations and utilization since the agency prepared its prior budget submission.
Lawmakers’ questions: Senator Zieterfeld asked how county per-diem rates are determined and why the county per-diem average declined in a recent year; Peterson explained the mix of short- and long-term county housing drove the average per-diem change. Director Tewalt reiterated that the legislature sets county per-diem rates in code and that the bifurcated approach is intended to limit county backlog.
Ending: The committee received the analysis and asked for additional documentation as the budget process continues; no appropriation vote was taken at the hearing.
