Committee offers JFAC budget guidance on Medicaid, LIHEAP, pharmacy costs, foster care and behavioral health

The committee spent a portion of the meeting preparing recommendations to the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee (JFAC) on several budget sections.

Representative Kaler and Representative Redmond summarized Medicaid items they reviewed and suggested policy options including work, volunteer, training and education requirements tied to expansion sideboards. They recommended examining Medicaid pharmacy spending; Kaler said there was “over 500,000,000 spent in fiscal year 2022” on pharmacy costs and urged review of the drugs and patient groups driving those costs.

Several members recommended shifting programs administered in Health and Welfare to more specialized agencies. Representative Kaler and Representative Levitt suggested moving LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and the Weatherization Assistance Program from the Department of Health and Welfare to an energy agency, arguing it would better align program responsibility.

On foster care, Representative Bieswanger reported the department will request additional staff to reduce higher‑cost placements, saying more upfront casework can keep children out of expensive group homes. On substance abuse, Representatives Wheeler and Thompson recommended increasing use of block grants because of the flexibility they afford; they reported the substance‑abuse programs were running lean and had not requested large increases.

Members reviewing mental health said the agency’s request totaled about $51 million, and that much of the funding supports a contract with Magellan for managed services. Representatives reported state hospital bed‑counts discussed with the agency: an adolescent unit with 16 beds had a census of 8; the northern facility reported 28 of 60 beds in use; the southern facility reported a census of 98 with 110 capacity.

Representative Levitt provided figures for LIHEAP and weatherization discussed during budget work: LIHEAP funding was described in the meeting as approximately $2,644,006 (the transcript contains two similar figures); winterization assistance was discussed in per‑person terms, cited at $7,540 per person.

Representative Egbert noted a departmental request to ease transfer limitations across mental‑health program lines, asking JFAC to consider aligning transfers with what Idaho code permits rather than stricter internal limitations.

Committee members said they had collected talking points for JFAC and expected to present them at the appropriations process. No formal budget motions or appropriations were made by the committee in the meeting; the discussion was preparatory.