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<DIV>Another reason to vote for Laurene Sorenson when the general election comes
around! Caroline Troy is a great disappointment considering she got such
positive expposure from the Tribune this morning for her stance on this...</DIV>
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<DIV>Linda Pall</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=ronforce@gmail.com
href="mailto:ronforce@gmail.com">Ron Force</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 25, 2016 6:03 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=moscowcares@moscow.com
href="mailto:moscowcares@moscow.com">Moscow Cares</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Cc:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] House kills health care bill on party-line
vote, adjourns; full story</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV class=gmail_default style="FONT-SIZE: small">In case you might have missed
it, this is a salient point:</DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_default style="FONT-SIZE: small"><I><BR></I></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_default style="FONT-SIZE: small"><I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Even five House Republicans who had pledged </SPAN><SPAN
tabIndex=0 style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN>on Thursday</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"> not to vote for any bills or rules next year until they
can vote to cover the gap population joined in the “no” vote on concurrence with
the Senate amendments.</SPAN></I><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_default style="FONT-SIZE: small"><I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><BR></SPAN></I></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_default><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Those of you who say, "I
don't vote for the party, I vote for the person." Be advised, when push comes to
shove, they vote with the party.</SPAN></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Ron Force<BR>Moscow Idaho USA</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 5:39 PM, Moscow Cares <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:moscowcares@moscow.com"
target=_blank>moscowcares@moscow.com</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex">
<DIV>
<DIV>As some Idaho families must continue to decide between food or medical
bills . . . Esto Perpetua!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Seeya at the polls.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Courtesy of the Spokesman-Review.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 48px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Chronicle Display A','Chronicle Display B',serif; FONT-WEIGHT: 600; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">House
kills health care bill on party-line vote, adjourns; full story</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN><B>By Betsy Z. Russell</B></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Here's my full story from <A
href="http://spokesman.com" target=_blank>spokesman.com</A> on today's final
chapter in this year's health care fight, which ended with the House killing a
bill on a party-line vote and adjourning for the year:</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>BOISE – The Idaho House shot down a
health care bill on a party-line vote Friday and adjourned, leaving the
state’s health care coverage gap unaddressed for another year.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>“We did not have the votes – I counted,”
said Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, “even with the Democrats.” Malek joined
with all other House Republicans to kill bill the Senate had amended and
passed Thursday in a last-minute attempt to move forward with a plan to
provide health coverage for the 78,000 Idahoans who make too little to qualify
for the subsidized insurance through the state health insurance exchange, but
also don’t qualify for Medicaid.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Even five House Republicans who had
pledged on Thursday not to vote for any bills or rules next year until they
can vote to cover the gap population joined in the “no” vote on concurrence
with the Senate amendments.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Malek said, “When we started the
session, there was absolutely no talk that we were going to do anything about
the gap, and we took this issue almost all the way to the finish line this
year, and that gives me a lot of hope that we’ll do something soon to solve
this problem.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley,
announced after the adjournment that he’ll appoint a bipartisan working group
to start meeting in May to develop “a solution for the gap
population.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>“You’ll see me pursuing that,” Bedke
said. “You’ll see me reaching out to the Senate to do that.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>He said, “There is a clear understanding
that the gap population, the medical services they receive are inadequate,
it’s an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and there’s bad
outcomes.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens,
welcomed the outcome. “We know that we’ve got issues here that have got to be
addressed,” he said. “I think we’re moving in that direction.” He added, “I
just think that this whole idea that Medicaid’s the answer – it isn’t the
answer. I just don’t agree with that.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
expanding Medicaid to cover the working poor under the federal Affordable Care
Act was optional for states, rather than mandatory, Idaho become one of just
19 states that hasn’t done so, though multiple task forces and study
committees convened by Gov. Butch Otter have concluded the move would provide
care and save the state millions.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Idaho currently uses local property
taxes and state general funds for its Catastrophic Care Program, which pays
the catastrophic medical bills, after the fact, for those who run up big bills
and can’t pay. Medicaid expansion would eliminate that program.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>The approach backed by the Senate didn’t
favor expanding the traditional Medicaid program. Instead, it directed the
state to seek a waiver from the federal government to tap Medicaid expansion
funds as a block grant to pay for a new, Idaho-developed managed care program
to cover those who make 100 percent or less of the federal poverty level.
Lawmakers still would have had to approve the waiver next year before anyone
could be enrolled.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>All other states that have expanded
Medicaid have covered those making up to 138 percent of the poverty line.
Idaho lawmakers have been looking this year at holding that line at 100
percent, as those who make more than that can qualify for insurance through
the state exchange.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said, “We know
that the Affordable Care Act created this problem with the gap. … We live in
the world we live in as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and this is a
problem that needs to be addressed. I oppose Medicaid expansion, but I don’t
look at this as Medicaid expansion. Medicaid is a defective system of care.
But I can live with Medicaid reform, in the world that we live in now. I think
this request allows us to explore that opportunity.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>The Senate passed the amended bill,
tacking the launch of negotiations on a waiver onto a House-passed bill that
would have granted $5 million a year for two years to community health centers
to provide additional services to the gap population. When the House rejected
the amendments, the grant program died, too.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Sen. Dan Schmidt, a physician who’s
pushed hard all year to get lawmakers to consider the coverage gap, said,
“This was a win-win for me. I was very happy we got this conversation out
there, folks recognizing the need to address this issue. It’s been put off so
long. We’re not serving our state by doing that.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>He added, “I think the majority party
got very uncomfortable with the stance they’ve been taking, and in my opinion,
that’s good.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>At an earlier public hearing on proposed
legislation to expand Medicaid, a doctor from eastern Idaho testified that
Idaho’s failure to take action on Medicaid expansion over the past three years
has resulted in the premature deaths of nearly 1,000 Idahoans.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>Outside the Idaho House and Senate
chambers during the final two days of this year’s session, two colorful floral
funeral wreaths were set up, with a sign in the center saying, “Close the Gap
Now, Not One More Death.”</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>The Senate vote on the amended plan was
27-8, with just eight Republicans dissenting, including four from North Idaho:
Sens. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene; Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood; Mary Souza,
R-Coeur d’Alene; and Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens. Senators adjourned for the
year on Thursday night at 9, leaving the House to consider the amended bill on
Friday morning.</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 17px"><SPAN>After killing it, and passing an urban
renewal reform bill they’d endorsed earlier, the House adjourned around noon.
The urban renewal bill, which emerged in part from the work of an interim
legislative committee, allows the option of elections for local urban renewal
boards; requires a 60 percent vote for urban renewal funds to be used for
public buildings like city halls and libraries; and requires all urban renewal
plans to be posted annually. It also specifies when modifications to plans
should trigger a re-set of property values used for tax-increment financing;
the bill, HB 606a, goes to Gov. Butch Otter. </SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--------------------------------<BR><BR>
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN>Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN>"Moscow Cares"</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><A style='href: "http://www.moscowcares.com/"' target=_blank><FONT
color=#000000>http://www.MoscowCares.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN>Tom Hansen</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN>Moscow, Idaho</SPAN></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
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