Legislative analysts present $6 billion Health and Welfare budget; Medicaid growth drives increases

BOISE — Alex Williamson, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, briefed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on the Department of Health and Welfare’s budget outlook and highlighted Medicaid as the primary driver of recent spending growth.

Williamson said the department’s most recently closed fiscal year saw spending of roughly $4.9 billion on appropriated authority and that approximately 91% of the agency’s expenditures go to trustee and benefit payments such as Medicaid reimbursements and assistance payments. She told the committee that if the governor’s recommendations and pending supplemental requests are approved, the department’s fiscal‑year 2026 appropriation would total about $6 billion in combined funds with approximately $1.2 billion from the state…