Senate committee advances bill restricting DEI practices in Medicaid-funded hiring to 14th Order for amendment

Senators on the Senate Health & Welfare Committee debated H 928, the Merit-Based Health Care Act, on March 24, 2026, after sponsor Senator Kohl described it as a measure to require Medicaid-funded hiring and contracting decisions be made solely on merit, professional qualifications and clinical competency and to bar certain Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices in state-funded health settings. Kohl said the bill amends Title 56 of the Idaho Code and would preserve narrow exemptions for federal civil-rights compliance, accredited medical training and legitimate clinical data collection.

Clinicians and medical trainees strongly opposed the bill during testimony, saying its vague definitions and civil-penalty enforcement could impede evidence-based care. "People had different life experiences which impacted how they perceived the world," physician-in-training Dorothy Buening said, arguing medical education should teach alternative perspectives to help providers serve diverse patients. Clinician witnesses also emphasized research on social determinants of health and defended implicit-bias training as a tool to improve patient communication and outcomes.

Committee members pressed witnesses on whether the bill’s exceptions would address those concerns. Senator Lenney read a quoted provision from the draft that he said appears on page 3: "does not prohibit collection of demographic data for legitimate clinical care, quality reporting or public health purposes, patient-specific medical discussions related to biological, genetic, or epidemiological risk factors," and asked whether that language alleviated fears about restricting useful clinical information. Witnesses cautioned that enforcement could be placed in the hands of nonclinical interpreters, producing subjective or inconsistent determinations about what constitutes "legitimate" clinical use.

Supporters told the committee H 928 protects patients by ensuring hiring focuses on competency rather than ideological criteria. Backers, including witness Richard Bosshardt, MD, said the bill would guard hiring decisions on merit. After questions and exchanges with clinicians and senators, Senator Lenney moved, Senator Keyser seconded, and the committee voted by voice to send H 928 to the 14th Order of Business for possible amendment; Senators Harris and Wintrow asked to be recorded as voting Nay. The action does not adopt the bill as written—it advances consideration for amendment at a later floor stage.