The measure was killed on a 6-9 vote over concerns that it would cede state lawmaking authority and that the review process releases too much information to a carrier’s competitors.

Bill Deal, DOI director, attempted to tamp down concerns that the process was too invasive for Idaho, arguing that the rate review practice is one that’s already been in effect. “We’ve had an effective rate review process for many years,” Deal explained.

The measure would have implemented new provisions that Deal said would add transparency in health care, but lawmakers felt they represented an overreach by government into the private sector. The bill would have given the state agency the authority to review all health insurance rate increases and deem them too high. But it also would have allowed the department to say if increases are too low.

The rate determinations would have then been handed over to the federal government for posting for the public to see. That public release of information also includes how much health carriers are spending on health benefits, administration, advertising and overhead. Carriers would also have had to disclose how much profit they take in through policies.

Deal said the measure promotes openness. “People have been asking for this transparency for a long time,” he explained. “Transparency is what we’re all about when it comes to rates.”

But Wayne Hoffman, head lobbyist with the Idaho Freedom Foundation, said the bill cited federal code within its text, meaning that changes in national law would mean immediate changes in Idaho statute. That, Hoffman argued, cedes the Legislature’s lawmaking responsibility. “That’s unconstitutional,” Hoffman said. “That’s one of our objections.”

Shad Priest, a staffer with Regence Blue Shield of Idaho and a former DOI deputy director, told the committee that his company is entirely comfortable with the state conducting the rate reviews. “We are not disturbed at all by this change,” Priest said.

Blue Cross of Idaho and Pacific Source also voiced support for the legislation.

Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, motioned to pass the bill, saying that the ability to rate review should stay at the state level. “It is very difficult for me to understand how we assert state sovereignty by turning the controls over to the federal government,” Rusche said.

Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, sided with Hoffman’s argument that embedding federal code into Idaho law isn’t the best practice. “That looks pretty open-ended to me,” Bayer said.

Rusche retorted, noting several instances of citing federal code in state law. “Are we now going to go back through Idaho law and remove all reference to federal code?” Rusche said. “That’s a very high bill for any bill writer.”

Because lawmakers rejected the measure, the federal government will take over some of the rate review process, including determining if health insurance increases are too high or too low.

Note: The Idaho Freedom Foundation publishes IdahoReporter.com.

The Senate Education Committee Monday unanimously approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, that would stop reductions to the teacher pay pool brought forth in the reform laws.

Instead of using money taken from the teacher pay pool to put more technology in classrooms, including laptops for students, Cameron’s bill would force the budget committee to find funding for everything.

That includes the tech reform, $30 million in merit pay for teachers and the pool for teacher pay.

Cameron’s legislation would cost about $35 million through the next five years, with the bulk of that money coming in 2013 and 2014. To keep the teacher pay pool whole next year, lawmakers will need $18 million.

Though Cameron was one of Luna’s chief reform foes last year, the superintendent is backing the measure to restore teacher pay.

Cameron, who heads the budget committee, said he is hopeful the state can afford to fully fund the teacher pay pool and all of Luna’s initiatives through at least the next three years. If there are shortfalls, Cameron said, his committee will look at other areas of the state budget to cut to keep education spending as whole as possible.

Penni Cyr, Idaho Education Association president, testified in support of Cameron’s bill, but said the group still believes Luna’s reforms are faulty. She said even full restoration of teacher pay would not alleviate concerns about reforms and that the group will still push for repeal of the laws in a November referendum.

The bill now heads to the Senate floor.

That forecast has come to pass.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Rammell filed for the Idaho House Monday, the first day of candidate filing.

Rammell will seek House Seat A in District 7 and will oppose Rep. Shannon McMillan, a first-term Republican from Silverton.

The former gubernatorial candidate has had several run-ins with the law since he failed to best Gov. Butch Otter in the 2010 Republican primary. In December 2010, he was arrested for poaching after illegally killing an elk in eastern Idaho. Prior to the trial for the charge, he was arrested again for jury tampering, a felony offense.

A felony would have disqualified him from running for office again, so Rammell admitted guilt to criminal contempt, a misdemeanor. The felony was subsequently dropped.

Rammell was eventually convicted on the poaching charge, but he plans to appeal.

Perhaps one of the most surprising, however, is the announcement that Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, will not seek re-election this year.

In an announcement to the press Monday, Lake said he has a self-imposed limit for serving in the Legislature, which is the primary reason for his decision to retire. Additionally, he said, there are others in his district who would like the opportunity to serve in public office.

Lake is in his eighth term and is serving as chair of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. He has shepherded a number of bills this year, including a reform of the state retirement system that has cleared the House and the Senate.

Lake’s departure adds to a power vacuum forming in the House. He is the fourth committee chair leaving his post. Other chairs departing are House Commerce and Human Resources Chairwoman Sharon Block, R-Twin Falls, Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Post Falls, head of the House Education Committee, and Rep. Bert Stevenson, R-Rupert, who heads up the Resources and Conservation Committee.

Of those, everyone but Nonini is retiring. Nonini is seeking an open seat in the Idaho Senate.

Filing period ends March 9.

Otter’s Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission (IGEM) initiative, a proposal to jump-start tech innovation in the state, cleared the Idaho House on a 65-2 vote Monday.

Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, the floor sponsor of the bill, said the legislation will pair the private and public sectors for the public good. “This legislation was not created in a vacuum,” Lake said.

The plan was modeled after successful programs in other states, including Utah’s USTARS initiative. “The concept is not new,” Lake said, adding that it has brought jobs and innovations to areas where it’s been implemented.

The total cost of the program is expected to be around $5 million, but Lake’s bill doesn’t appropriate the funds. If the initial bill clears the Senate and is signed by Otter, the budget committee will appropriate the funds for the program.

Of the potential money, $950,000 will fund grants for public-private project investments, $2 million will go to the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and another $2 million will pay for research at Idaho colleges and universities.

Lake warned lawmakers of the need to be patient when looking for proof of positive results. “This is not something that you can do today and expect results tomorrow,” Lake said. “This is something that will have a long-term effect.”

Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, backed the idea as a proven method to create jobs. “It has been well-tried in other states,” Black said. “I think we have the personnel in the Department of Commerce to develop this and develop some economic growth in the state.”

Democrat Bill Killen, D-Boise, also threw his support behind the plan. “I wish we had it earlier, but better later than never,” Killen lamented.

The measure was opposed by Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett, R-Challis, and Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, though neither explained their dissent.

The plan now moves to the Idaho Senate for hearings.

It now heads to the Idaho Senate.

The legislation is sponsored by House Health and Welfare Committee Chairwoman Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls. The oversight panel would have no legal authority to make changes to law, but could make policy recommendations to the Legislature. The panel would also work with the governor’s office on health reform-related issues.

McGeachin told her colleagues that the 2010 federal health reforms are leading the state into “uncharted waters.”
The top Democrat in the House, Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, argued the bill is an overreach by the state government and could block the governor’s office from taking necessary action to comply with federal law.

It could cost the state $2,400 each time the committee meets, funds that will come out of the House and Senate budgets.

The Legislature already has one health care task force that monitors state-related medical care issues. Its primary goal is to find solutions to ever-rising health care costs.

The measure comes with a new twist because not only does it remove the statewide cap, but it removes the limitation that prevents creation of more than one charter school per district annually.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Bob Nonini, R-Post Falls, and Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, cleared on a 49-19 vote and heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration.

Nonini and Bayer teamed up to push the bill on the House floor, with Nonini saying cap removal would help the more than 8,000 students on the charter school waiting list. “We need to do something to address that,” he said.

Bayer complemented that argument, saying that the caps make Idaho seem “unfriendly” to school choice and often disqualify Idaho for federal and private education grants.

Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, said that while he supports the charter concept, he cannot get behind cap removal because it would lead to a “free for all” of unregulated school creation. He also pointed out that the cap hasn’t been hit in its eight years of existence, with three or four new charter schools coming on line annually.

“The current system isn’t broken,” Cronin warned. “There was a good reason we established a cap eight year ago and nothing has changed since then.”

But Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, R-Star, says that while cap removal might mean more charter schools, it won’t mean less regulation and oversight. “It takes 29 months before they can open their doors,” DeMourdant said. “It’s not like this is overnight happening. Eliminating the cap does not make it easier to open a charter school.”

The bill heads to the Senate.

Most of the money, about $3.6 million in all, comes from a federal match program. The state is asked to pay 10 percent of the costs, or about $400,000 of the initial allocation.

The money approved Monday is a first for the process to ready Medicaid for the exchange, which is an online insurance purchase portal similar to Amazon.com. The Medicaid administration agency, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, says readying the state’s systems for the exchange will take at least $35 million in funding, mostly for technological support upgrades.

The department is being asked to introduce an entirely new function into the Medicaid system. Under the 2010 federal health reforms, states are being mandated to provide Medicaid eligibility evaluation in real time instead of a multi-day method, which has been used in the past. In order to achieve that, DHW needs to overhaul its computer mainframes and integrate with verification outlets, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for citizenship affirmation and the IRS for income confirmation.

The money approved Monday will be spent before the end of the fiscal year on June 30 if it clears the Legislature and is signed by the governor. The rest of the funding will be appropriated for fiscal year 2013.

The funds do nothing to create a state-based or federally run health exchange. While that debate is yet to be had in the Capitol, DHW is simply preparing for the integration.

Lawmakers are working under pressure from the federal government. While the readiness ofIdaho’s Medicaid system is part of the 2010 federal health care law,Idahocould also lose health care funding if the appropriate changes are not enacted.

That could represent a fiscal nightmare for the state if it happens.Idahois spending $436 million on Medicaid this year, a number the federal government matches 3-to-1. The federal government’s share of the Medicaid program is more than $1.2 billion this year.

The Senate and House health and welfare committee chairs support the funding, asking the budget committee to spend the money in Feb. 15 testimony before the panel.

The spending measure now heads to the House floor.

Caldwell Libertarian Rob Oates is set to file paperwork with the secretary of state’s office Monday to declare his candidacy in the race for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Oates will take on the Republican Labrador, in his first term in the U.S. House, and Democrat Jimmy Farris, a former professional football player making his first foray into public life. It’s also likely that perennial candidate Pro-Life, formerly Marvin Richardson, will jump in the race this week.

Oates is a former Caldwell City Council member and an Army veteran. He served one full term on the council and was re-elected a second time, but resigned that post more than a year ago in order to take a job managing the city’s airport.

He also serves as chairman of the Libertarian Party of Idaho.

“Personally, I have no issues with Raul Labrador,” Oates said. “But these two parties that have taken turns holding Congress are the source of America’s problems.”

Listing what would be his priorities in office if elected, Oates says the national debt must be addressed and that neither party is willing to take the steps necessary to bring the country’s fiscal house into order. As part of that plank, he would seek an end to the war in Afghanistan and other military actions and would push for the repeal of the 2010 federal health care reforms.

Additionally, Oates wants Congress to focus more on restoring and protecting the rights of American citizens, not sacrificing them in the name of national security. The Caldwell Libertarian isn’t comfortable with the Patriot Act or the Transportation Safety Administration’s role in airports.

“We should be marching in the street over some of this stuff,” Oates said. “Instead, we’re playing on Facebook, updating our Twitter accounts and watching Jersey Shore.”

But, will Idaho, a Republican stronghold, elect a Libertarian? “Of course they will,” Oates said, explaining that his campaign will attempt to educate voters on the problems with Congress and the government. “I want voters to understand these issues.”

To do that, Oates will focus on Labrador, but also on Congress as a whole. “Congress has the lowest approval rating in history,” he noted. “We have to fix this system and we achieve that by throwing out old ways of thinking that have permeated American’s two-party stronghold.”

Oates faces a tough road. Mike Washburn, the Libertarian Party’s 2010 1st Congressional District candidate, garnered a mere 4,696 vote in the general election against Labrador and then-incumbent Democrat Walt Minnick. Washburn’s vote total equaled about 1.9 percent of all votes cast, while Labrador took the race with 51 percent.

The bill has support from the Idaho Medical Association, as well as St. Luke’s Medical Center in Boise, among others. Attorneys representing both organizations said the bill would limit distractions to physicians, which doctors have voiced concerns about out of concern they could be limited with the trend to hospital consolidations into not being able to admit patients to a rival hospital.

The intent of the legislation is to allow a physician to provide for patients without regard to his involvement with a rival facility.