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DOC projects higher county and out‑of‑state placement and medical costs; warns of medical contract bid risk
Summary
Legislative analysts said the Department of Correction projects higher costs driven by population and medical utilization and that a new medical contract could increase costs by 10% if renewed with the incumbent or 30–40% if rebid.
Analysts told the Joint Finance Preparations Committee on Feb. 4 that the Idaho Department of Correction expects higher county‑jail, out‑of‑state placement and medical costs driven by population changes and greater medical utilization, and that negotiations with the current medical contractor could cap a contract increase at about 10% while a competitive rebid could raise costs 30–40%.
Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst for the Legislative Services Office, described population‑driven supplemental requests and an ongoing medical services per‑diem adjustment requested for fiscal 2026. He said the FY2025 supplemental to cover updated population and utilization projections was $5,957,200 for medical services and that the FY2026 ongoing adjustment to the base would include a $4,027,900 population adjustment plus an estimated $5,957,200 to reflect higher utilization assuming successful negotiations with the incumbent medical contractor.
Peterson said the agency is negotiating with its current medical services provider and that, if negotiations succeed, the agency projects a roughly 10% contract increase; if negotiations fail and the contract goes to bid, the agency projects a 30–40% increase.
Senator Zetterfeld asked about county per‑diem rates and the analyst recited $57.50 (days 1–7) and $77.50 (days 8+) for county placements and about $84.45 for out‑of‑state placements. Director Josh Tewalt clarified that the statute sets the county rates and said the code specifies $55 and $75 respectively. The commission and agency testimony noted that the bifurcated county rate was intended to encourage rapid state pickup of people detained at county jails.
The committee heard that prior supplemental reductions were restored to base projections. Analysts recommended committee review of the medical‑contract negotiations and expected costs before finalizing ongoing adjustments.
