BOISE, ID – The Idaho Council on Indian Affairs on Wednesday voted to draft a letter urging state budget writers to protect Medicaid, including Medicaid expansion, and exempt Native American tribal members from further cuts.
The council includes legislators and Idaho tribal representatives and advises the governor, Legislature and state agencies.
Michael Steele, a policy analyst for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, asked the council to support the program, especially for the state’s Native American residents. He noted that the federal government reimburses 100% of Medicaid services costs for tribal members.
“The past year that I’ve worked for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of Medicaid,” Steele said. “I see individuals on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, just walking past my office. Many of them are vulnerable children, elders or other tribal members that are really suffering … The need is staggering, and Medicaid saves lives.
Steele noted that treaty responsibilities between U.S. and tribes call for the provision of health care to tribal members, and some of that responsibility had been delegated to states through Medicaid.
He said that 54% of tribal members living on Fort Hall Indian Reservation are enrolled in Medicaid, and that funding from Medicaid represented 82% of the Tribal Health and Human Services budget.
Donna Thompson, of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, suggested that other tribes identify the percentage of their members who use Medicaid.
The council voted unanimously to draft the letter. Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, noted that he’d want to see it before he put his name on it.
Idaho budget committee members have been weighing cuts this year to balance budget; some have eyed Medicaid
The 2026 legislative session has been characterized by budget cutting, as the state entered the year with revenues coming in below projections.
The state budget writers on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, known as JFAC, have already approved $131 million in across-the-board cuts to nearly every agency for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The committee also voted to adopt an additional $143 million in additional permanent cuts for the next fiscal year.
To cut Medicaid budget, governor says Idaho could remove disability, dental services
Those cuts exempted the Medicaid program. However, Gov. Brad Little in his proposed budget called for $22 million in Medicaid cuts for the next fiscal year, although it’s up to the Legislature to determine how to reduce the budgets. The proposal includes reductions in services considered “optional,” under federal Medicaid regulations, such as those for in-home care for people with disabilities and dental coverage for adults.
No legislative proposal has emerged yet this session, but some lawmakers have eyed cutting Medicaid expansion to reduce costs. The Medicaid expansion program was approved by Idaho voters in 2018 via a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid eligibility to those who fell in the gap between earning too much for traditional Medicaid and those who didn’t qualify for premium tax credits to afford private insurance through the state health care marketplace.
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