The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare unveiled new tools this week to track enrollment in welfare programs as well as how much money is being spent on those programs. The reports, spearheaded by new IDHW director Alex Adams, are available to the public on the IDHW homepage. Click here to go directly there.
The first reports show spending on Medicaid programs, broken down by service and then by optional versus mandatory expenditures. You can look through forecast spending compared to actual spending and a breakdown of funds going toward each Medicaid program. According to the current report, $730 million is being spent on Medicaid out of Idaho’s general fund. This is combined with federal funds for a total of $4.202 billion.
The second report shows enrollment and expenditures for all of Idaho’s so-called Self Reliance programs. According to this report, total enrollment has been trending downward over the past year, with 356,272 Idahoans currently on one program or another. 99% of those are on Medicaid. The latest employment numbers from the Idaho Department of Labor show that 977,902 Idahoans are currently employed, meaning there is one person on welfare for every 2.7 workers in our state.
The Self Reliance report breaks down the numbers according to each program, including showing what percentage of enrollees are within 10% of the maximum eligibility threshold.
IDHW intends to publish these reports each month, giving citizens, legislators, and policy analysts great tools for tracking how tax dollars are being used in our state. I expect these reports to be valuable as the Legislature comes back into session next January and tackles both the budget and the structure of Idaho’s welfare programs. Click here to examine the reports for yourself.
About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
