Opinion- Idaho: Will Playing Politics Really Pay Off?

Two months ago, state legislators by and large declared health insurance exchanges would become the big issue of this session.

Now, as a bill on the matter finally emerges, the question becomes how the Legislature will treat this issue in an already-shrill election year: politically, or in the practical way it deserves?

For several months, Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, and Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, have worked on legislation that would establish a state-operated health insurance exchange, one of the provisions of the federal health care reforms dubbed “Obamacare.”

Meanwhile, Idaho is one of many states that has sued over Obamacare and now awaits a decision this summer from the U.S. Supreme Court. Idaho Falls state Rep. Janice McGeachin is throwing down as many roadblocks to the process as she can, this week proposing the Legislature create a committee to ponder the issue for a while. House opposition has led Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to drop plans to use federal funding to help start the exchange, putting more pressure on an already-tight state budget. Otter worries the state doesn’t have enough time to set its exchange up by the federal due date anyway.

The clock is ticking. What’s a legislator to do?

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Legislators trying to ignore the health reforms should ask themselves this: If Idaho’s lawsuit doesn’t go their way, will the state be prepared to make the best of the federal law? Or in attempting to reject a perceived federal overreach, are they setting the state up to possibly lose both its court case and any control over its insurance exchange?

Right and wrong are always in the eye of the beholder. For some in Boise, it’s apparently hard to see much of anything at all.


http://magicvalley.com/news/opinion/editorial/our-view-will-playing-politics-really-pay-off/article_29e72c7c-9fed-59ad-948a-2c86a5849c6f.html
Hat tip: Magic Valley Times-News