Melissa Wintrow — Senator Wintrow praises Director Sharon’s leadership and notes that she follows policy rather than politics. The discussion then continues as Director Sharon responds to Wintrow’s question about collaboration with the disability community, elaborating on the issue in a continuous exchange.
Melissa Wintrow — Melissa Wintrow is referenced and then called on by the Chair to ask questions following the supplemental presentation. She then speaks, asking about the direct impacts of the 4% rate reduction and citing a public forum that generated extensive testimony.
Melissa Wintrow — Melissa Wintrow, addressed as Senator Blaylock, participates in a brief exchange about Medicaid and pharmacy co-pays, asking for clarification on how a potential co-pay would work and what budget offset it might require.
Glenneda Zuiderveld — Referenced as having noted that the director has multiple priorities.
Glenneda Zuiderveld — Senator Zuiderveld is addressed and then engages in a Medicaid policy exchange, asking whether expansion-related movement affects other programs and whether recovery funds apply only to expansion members or to all Medicaid plans. The director responds directly to her questions, keeping the discussion focused on how the Medicaid-related funding and expansion provisions apply.
Brian Lenney — Brian Lenney repeatedly addresses the same senator, likely mis-transcribed as 'Senator Burkley,' during a continuous exchange with the chair. The mentions are part of one ongoing interaction, including a brief thank-you to the chair and another direct address to the senator, with no substantive change in topic.
Director Sharon — The speaker addresses Director Sharon and frames a broad question about her role overseeing health and welfare.
Director Sharon — Director Sharon begins her response about Idaho's influence on health care policy.
Director Sharon — Director Sharon begins presenting the Health and Welfare budget requests and notes the length of her slide deck.
Director Sharon — Said she would focus initially on the Medicaid budget and then return to other budget items if time allowed.
Director Sharon / Juliet Sharon — Director Sharon closes the policy discussion and then identifies herself for the record as Juliet Sharon, Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Sasha O'Connell — Identified as Deputy Director with the Department of Health and Welfare and State Medicaid Director; added details on public comments and provider concerns.
Sasha O'Connell — Identifies herself as the state Medicaid director and one of the deputy directors in the department, and confirms the planned co-pay structure.
Ms. O'Connell — Addressed as the department witness being questioned about rate reductions and access impacts.
Ms. O'Connell — Says the department will try to pull together numbers and notes historical challenges collecting co-pays from participants.
Sasha — Referenced as someone who can provide additional detail on the procurement modules and claims/provider enrollment piece.
Sasha — Sasha is introduced as being present and available to answer questions about the budget and pharmacy-related issues, and then the discussion is handed off to Sasha to respond specifically about the pharmacy co-pay question.
Camille Blaylock — Camille Blaylock is referenced in connection with a Medicaid recovery statistic, with one mention noting that she shared the low recovery percentage and another clarifying that she calculated it as 0.05.
Julie VanOrden — Addressed as Madam Chair during the question period.
Julie VanOrden — Julie VanOrden is referenced in the ongoing budget discussion, first in relation to focusing on the Medicaid budget and then in connection with a slide reflecting a rescission in the budget presentation.
Julie VanOrden — Julie VanOrden offers brief closing remarks, thanking the chair and committee as the discussion wraps up.
Aaron — Identified as the speaker's significant other and noted as being present in the audience.
Camille Blaylock — Camille Blaylock pressed the Director to identify a quantifiable outcome the committee could revisit in two years, using program integrity recovery as an example of setting a concrete target such as increasing recovered funds from $3 million to $6 million. She then stressed that the committee would hold the Director accountable for meeting the stated goal and broadened the discussion by asking how to balance compassion in health services with fiscal responsibility.