Health and Welfare seeks $6.7M supplemental, transfer exemptions to fund Idaho Behavioral Health Plan

The Department of Health and Welfare asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Wednesday for $6.7 million in one-time federal authority to cover the first year of the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan and for $261,400 in ongoing federal funds to support grants administered under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The request also included a transfer-exemption request to loosen limits in Idaho Code 67-35-11 that limit program transfers. Department staff and the director said the exemption would allow the agency to move resources into adult and children’s mental-health programs during unforeseen fiscal-year 2025 expenditures.

Why it matters: agency leaders said the IBHP funding fills gaps that Medicaid does not cover — such as respite care and services for non‑Medicaid patients — and supports crisis and community behavioral health services launched after the plan went live in July 2024. Committee…