The lawmakers on the joint Medicaid Review Panel focused much of the questioning around what lessons have been learned from the state’s current largest managed care contract — the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan. The $1.4 billion contract with Magellan of Idaho was the largest in state history.

Idaho’s Legislature passed a series of major laws in 2025 that reshape key areas of policy. Lawmakers boosted the grocery tax credit by $35, but stopped short of repealing the grocery sales tax, leaving Idaho among the few states to keep this tax.

Donald Trump is back in the White House, the GOP controls Congress, and Republicans have dusted off their 2017 plans to reshape Medicaid.

In a letter May 15, CMS approved Idaho’s request to end the family caregiver program within 60 days. After that, Idaho will no longer have the power to pay spouses and parents as disability caregivers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to develop a platform using Medicare and Medicaid records to investigate the causes of autism.

There’s no escaping the economic fallout. As Idaho economist Steven Peterson noted earlier this year, every $1 of federal Medicaid spending in the Gem State generates $1.82 toward the gross domestic product. Lose those dollars and jobs will disappear. So will some tax revenues.

Living in Idaho, our family has too many blessings to count. We get to raise our kids on our small farm in Eagle, and we enjoy taking advantage of all

Medicaid was a significant point of contention in this just-ended Idaho legislative session. An even bigger and potentially more damaging discussion now looms in Washington, D.C., as Congress mulls cu