JFAC approves Medicaid supplementals and forwards $674.2 million FY2026 package

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee voted to approve one‑time fiscal‑year 2025 supplementals for the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Medicaid and advanced a larger FY2026 program‑maintenance package on unanimous procedural action followed by roll‑call votes. The committee moved the FY2025 supplementals forward as a bill and recommended passage on a roll call that recorded 7 ayes and 3 nays in the Senate delegation and 6 ayes, 3 nays and 1 absent/excused in the House delegation; the FY2026 package passed by the same recorded margin.

Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the FY2025 supplemental request consolidates a set of one‑time payments and system costs and that the package on the table includes an external quality review for managed care, implementation costs tied to the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan, forecast revisions and an increase to the hospital assessment fund. "This is a federal requirement," Williamson said of the external quality review contract, describing the items as the division's effort to "pay our bills" for implementation and forecast differences.

Why it matters: the measures address near‑term payment obligations and position the state to draw federal matching dollars. Committee members repeatedly cited caseload, utilization and rising health‑care costs as the driver of the larger increases and flagged that some changes require federal waivers or are court‑ordered obligations.

What the committee approved

- FY2025 supplementals: The committee approved a package the committee recorded on the floor as totaling $415,226,800 one time (combined general, dedicated and federal funds). The package as presented included line items described in committee materials and on the screen: a…