Health and Welfare Committee, Idaho House of Representatives

Idaho House of Representatives
House Committees
Agricultural Affairs Appropriations Business Commerce and Human Resources Education Environment, Energy and Technology Health and Welfare Judiciary, Rules and Administration Local Government Resources and Conservation Revenue and Taxation State Affairs Transportation and Defense Ways and Means
Joint Committees
Senate Committees

The Health and Welfare Committee is a standing committee of the Idaho House of Representatives.

Membership

2013-2014

The following table describes committee membership at the beginning of the 2013 legislative session.

Health and Welfare Committee Members, 2013
Democratic members (2)	Republican members (9)
• John Rusche	• Fred Wood, Chair
• Susan Chew	• Christy Perry, Vice-chair
	• Douglas A. Hancey Jr.
	• Frank N. Henderson
	• Brandon Hixon
	• Luke Malek
	• Ed Morse
	• Paul Romrell
	• John Vander Woude

2011-2012

The following table describes committee membership for the 2011 legislative session.

Health and Welfare Committee Members, 2011
Democratic members (2)	Republican members (8)
• John Rusche	• Janice McGeachin, Chair
• Susan Chew	• Carlos Bilbao, Vice-chair
	• Ken Roberts
	• Paul Shepherd
	• Fred Wood
	• Jim Guthrie
	• Thomas Loertscher
	• Steven Thayn

2009-2010

The following table describes committee membership for the 2009 legislative session.

Health and Welfare Committee Members, 2009
Democratic members (4)	Republican members (12)
• George Sayler	• Sharon Block, Chair
• John Rusche	• Milton Nielsen, Vice-chair
• Susan Chew	• Paul Shepherd
• Branden Durst	• Judy Boyle
	• Steven Thayn
	• Lynn Luker
	• Fred Wood
	• Jim Marriott
	• Marc Gibbs
	• Thomas Loertscher
	• Janice McGeachin
	• Jeffrey Thompson

Asset Test

In 2008, Idaho Gov.Butch Otter suspended the asset test, an examination of the hard assets owned by a person who applies for federal food stamps. Previously to the suspension, those people who owned more than $2,000 worth of travel trailers, ATVs, boats, among other things, were deemed ineligible to received federal food stamps. The suspension was confirmed by the House Health and Welfare Committee in 2010. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare suspended the test for an additional year after Otter's original suspension ended in May of 2010. Some Republican lawmakers want to adjust the asset test for inflation, rather than removing altogether, which is desired by the Idaho Community Action Network. Department officials say that the asset test hasn't been adjusted in at least 24 years.

Katie Beckett Program

Two years ago, the House Health and Welfare Committee ordered the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to search for ways in which the department could save money in the state's Medicaid program. In 2010, the department proposed imposing a voluntary cost-sharing agreement on parents of children who receive Medicaid services through the Katie Beckett program, a move given the OK by the House Health and Welfare Committee. The state has 2,150 children on the program, which accounts for more than $37 million of the Idaho's Medicaid budget. In the first month of billing, Idaho took in $13,454.

Adoption Ordering

Rep. Sharon Block of Twin Falls successfully pitched a bill to the House Health and Welfare Committee which set the order in which kids in state custody are placed in foster care. The plan, signed into law by Gov. Butch Otter, says that close family members of children needing foster care are first on the list for placement consideration, followed by more-distant relatives and then ordinary foster care parents with no prior connection to the child. The plan also allowed the department to waive licensing requirements for qualified relatives, if department officials were deemed safe through background checks. If the waiver is applied, relatives would be allowed to take custody of the children while going through the licensing process.

External links

• Idaho House of Representatives Committees