{"id":407248,"date":"2026-01-14T19:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/407248\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T19:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:48:07","slug":"to-cut-medicaid-budget-governor-says-idaho-could-remove-disability-dental-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/407248\/","title":{"rendered":"To cut Medicaid budget, governor says Idaho could remove disability, dental services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun<\/a>) \u2014 To balance the state\u2019s budget, Idaho Gov. Brad Little\u2019s plan says the state could cut Medicaid services for dental care and people with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of the governor\u2019s recommendation for $22 million in extra Medicaid cuts<\/a>, he says the state could remove Medicaid dental coverage for adults, and home and community-based services, which are meant to help people with developmental disabilities live outside of institutional settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s budget chief, Lori Wolff, told the Idaho Legislature\u2019s budget committee on Tuesday that following through on many of Little\u2019s cut ideas would require a bill changing state policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese decisions are difficult,\u201d Wolff told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC. \u201cAnd we are going to have to work closely together to decide how we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

JFAC\u2019s new co-chair, Rep. Josh Tanner, an Eagle Republican, seemed skeptical of the governor\u2019s budget proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMedicaid growth is crowding out every other priority,\u201d Tanner wrote in a statement. \u201cInstead of presenting real reforms, the Governor leaves behind a Medicaid budget hole based on unspecified cuts, shifting the toughest decisions to the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Idaho eyes Medicaid cuts after state tax cuts, and recent federal and state Medicaid cuts <\/p>\n

Idaho is facing multimillion projected budget shortfalls<\/a> \u2014 about $40 million this fiscal year, and more than $500 million next fiscal year \u2014 after years of state tax cuts. State officials are returning to talks of cutting Medicaid after passing a massive Medicaid cost-cutting bill last year, and after President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d this summer deeply cut federal funds<\/a> for Medicaid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Years after the Legislature cut adult dental Medicaid coverage after the Great Recession, state lawmakers restored the benefit as projections showed dental coverage actually saved the state money. After the federal \u201cbig beautiful bill\u201d cut Medicaid this year, some Idahoans feared that optional Medicaid benefits like home and community-based services could face cuts<\/a>, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Idaho Voices for Children Policy Director Hillarie Matlock said the Legislature needs to let policies from last year\u2019s Medicaid laws<\/a> from the state and federal government play out.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s proposed cuts would \u201conly drive up the state\u2019s costs down the road,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf cost containment is the long-term goal, cutting any of these services is not the way to do it,\u201d Matlock told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview. \u201cThese services are essential to Idahoans with disabilities, children and seniors, and will only drive up costs down the road.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, the governor\u2019s spokesperson Joan Vargas said the cut ideas \u201cwere considered to meet the state\u2019s constitutional requirement for a balanced budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdult dental coverage and home- and community-based services were included because they are optional Medicaid benefits under federal law, not mandated by the federal government,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWhile reductions have impacts, these options were considered to meet the state\u2019s constitutional requirement for a balanced budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Idaho Medicaid services is the governor targeting for cuts?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The governor proposed a total of $45 million in Medicaid cuts next fiscal year. About half of that would come from extending 4% doctor pay cuts. The other half \u2013 the $22 million in extra Medicaid cuts \u2013 would come from a list of options for other Medicaid cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Little\u2019s list of Medicaid cut options didn\u2019t recommend repealing Medicaid expansion,<\/a> as some Republican state lawmakers are considering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what options the governor proposed:<\/p>\n

Rate reductions: To hospital rates, to residential habilitation, and even removing administrative costs for contracts for managed care organizations, which are private companies that run Medicaid benefits<\/a>. Removing services made up the bulk of the governor\u2019s proposed options for Medicaid cuts. Services that could be cut include: adult dental services, home and community-based services, pharmacy benefits for adults who aren\u2019t on Medicaid expansion, adult prosthetics and orthotics, adult in-home nursing services, adult chiropractic services, adult audiology services, adult vision services, hospice services, case management support, and services for physical, occupational and speech therapy. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not immediately clear if services called for removal would be entirely ended under the governor\u2019s proposed cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced it was capping visits for occupational, physical and speech therapy at 20 per year. Any more visits need prior authorization, but some services would be exempt from the cap, according to the agency\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter said the change aligns Idaho\u2019s programs with other states. The agency doesn\u2019t know how much the change will save the state, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIdaho Medicaid regularly reviews its policies to ensure consistency with best practices,\u201d McWhorter said. \u201cPrior to this change, a provider had to order physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, but Idaho Medicaid did not authorize that the service was medically necessary before it was rendered.\u201d<\/p>\n

After cutting Medicaid dental coverage post-recession, Idaho restored service after ER costs surged <\/p>\n

After the Great Recession, the Idaho Legislature in 2011 cut Medicaid dental coverage for adults in hopes to save money.<\/p>\n

But three years later, the Legislature was already working to restore adult dental Medicaid coverage<\/a> after emergency-room costs surged, the Associated Press reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2018, as the Legislature approved restoring non-emergency dental coverage for adults, the move was projected to save the state<\/a> $2.5 million, the Spokesman-Review reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t \t \t \t=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https:\/\/www.eastidahonews.com\/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”> \t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) \u2014 To balance the state\u2019s budget, Idaho Gov. Brad Little\u2019s plan says the state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-407248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}