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by Kristin Rowan, Editor
Idaho Approves $22M Cut
Provider Reimbursement Rates Slashed
Idaho Governor Brad Little approved House Bill 863 in late March after the bill passed the House and Senate. Little directed the state to balance the budget and sent a recommended list of cuts. Among the recommendations was provider reimbursement rates for residential habilitation services, where lawmakers chose to cut nearly $22 million.
Cut Reverses Raises
The State approved pay raises for providers in 2022. This bill reduces those raises for next fiscal year. Combined with previous Medicaid rate cuts, this amounts to a 10% rate reduction for habilitation providers. Lawmakers say this rate is still 33% higher than four years ago.
An Impossible Decision
Lawmakers say balancing the budget required impossible decisions. For Medicaid, the decision was between cutting the Medicaid expansion, and cutting services for people with disabilities. As evidence of the difficulty of the decision, the proposal was delayed twice and was replaced once with a proposal to repeal Medicaid expansion.
Tighten Your Belt
Co-sponsor of the bill, Senator Julie VanOrden, said to follow the money. “The money [goes] from the state to the provider to the caregiver. Somewhere along there, maybe somebody needs to tighten the belt somewhere…. That might mean, as a provider, I don’t take as much money, but I still pay the people that are doing the work the amount that they need.”
HHAeXchange Responds
The Rowan Report reached out to HHAeXchange president Stephen Vaccaro for a comment.
“Idaho’s recent Medicaid disability-services cuts and Colorado’s proposed reductions point to a broader pattern. When states look for Medicaid savings, home and community-based services (HCBS) are often among the first areas affected. But for people who rely on care at home, these supports are essential. They make it possible for individuals to remain safely in the community, rather than shifting into disruptive, higher-acuity settings.
While cutting HCBS may lower spending in one line item, states can end up shifting costs to more intensive settings, like emergency departments and long-term care facilities. To build a more sustainable Medicaid program, states must look beyond immediate savings and consider the longer-term impact of weakening access to services that help prevent more costly outcomes.
States must continue to address fraud, waste, and abuse to protect the long-term health of Medicaid. However, jeopardizing the critical services that people rely on is not the answer. Oversight and accountability should go hand in hand with preserving access to care at home.”
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Kristin Rowan is the owner and Editor-in-chief of The Rowan Report, the industry’s most trusted source for care at home news. She is also a sought-after speaker on Artificial Intelligence, Technology Adoption and Lone Worker Safety. She is available to speak at state and national conferences as well as software user-group meetings.
Kristin also runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in content creation, social media management, and event marketing. She works with care at home software providers to create dynamic content that increases conversions for direct e-mail, social media, and websites. Connect with Kristin directly at kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com
©2026 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com
