.png)
Don Gronning
NEWPORT — Idaho’s recently signed cuts to its state Medicaid will have a direct effect on Newport Hospital and Health Services, CEO Kim Manus told hospital commissioners at its regular meeting Friday, March 21.
Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little signed the Medicaid Reform and Cost Containment Act that changes how Idaho handles Medicaid, the federal healthcare program for low-income people. Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, states could expand Medicaid, with the federal government paying as much as 90% of the expansion.
Washington expanded its Medicaid in 2014, while Idaho didn’t expand Medicaid until 2020, after a citizen’s initiative to do so was approved by Idaho voters. The expansion meant that more people could qualify for Medicaid.
Manus said she and other administrators had met with 5th District U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, the day before to discuss Medicaid. She said she wanted to explain to him what would happen to the Newport hospital and the community if Medicaid expansion went away.
She told Baumgartner that if the hospital didn’t have access to Medicaid expansion money, services such as obstetrics would be affected.
“I talked to him about OB,” Manus said. “I told him that we were committed to that and that it was a big part of the reason that our providers are here.”
Manus said that if cuts to Medicaid expansion were made nationally, coupled with the Idaho cuts, the hospital would either have to generate more revenue or cut services.
Manus presented hospital commissioners with a look at what Medicaid expansion means in terms of hospital revenue. Newport Hospital and Health Services received $2.78 million in Washington state Medicaid expansion money in the 12 months ending in February 2025. Idaho Medicaid expansion generated $641,892 and Idaho Medicaid amounted to $1.73 million in the previous 12 months.
“This is a really bleak picture but I wanted these numbers to be able to speak to it when I met with Congressman Baumgartner to let him know that for us, personally, that Medicaid expansion means $4.2 million to our bottom line,” Manus said.
“What did he say?” commissioner Sue Johnson asked.
“He did tell us that he did not see expansion going away altogether,” Manus said. He does feel that it is moving towards a work requirement to be in that expansion category.
“The challenge there is childcare,” Manus said. “So if you’re paying daycare, you’re not going to get ahead.”
The recently passed Idaho Medicaid Reform and Cost-Containment legislation included a 20-houra- week work requirement and a three-year lifetime cap on Medicaid.
“So if they don’t work, are we going to have to foot the whole bill?” Johnson asked.
“That’s part of what I talked to him about,” Manus said. “Twenty-five percent of what we do is emergency room revenue and 35% of our business comes from Idaho.”
Manus said that while the Idaho Medicaid expansion money isn’t as much as Washington’s, 5% of the hospital’s revenue comes from Idaho. She said Newport hospital would have to foot the bill.
“Because all of those people are below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines to be on expansion,” she said. “So that means if they come here and need medical care and we provide it, it now becomes charity care and that’s another hit to the bottom line.”
She said the hospital is required to offer charity care to everyone, regardless of where the person lives.
Manus said Baumgartner spoke about wellness care as a part of the Medicaid discussion. He also assured healthcare executives that Medicare wouldn’t be touched.
“He did discuss that wellness (care) was really important,” she said, meaning preventative care. If Medicaid expansion patients go to being charity care patients because of changes to Medicaid, that is a challenge for the hospital.
“If you’re going to have to take care of the urgent and the emergent, are you really going to be able to fit in doing the wellness?” Manus said. That will be the one area that will drop off. “It’s kind of just a vicious circle.”
She said Baumgartner also told the group he was committed to economic development and keeping rural communities viable.
“We’re a big part of that,” Manus said. She said Newport Hospital and Health Services has 400 people that work here and a big impact on the community’s economics.
That was a theme that was also expressed by NEW Health CEO Desiree Sweeny in a roundtable in Spokane Wednesday, March 19, with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
“We create jobs,” Sweeny said. “And I don’t think that’s something we talk enough about.”
She said NEW Health is one of the largest non-government, non-school employers in the region, with clinics and dental offices in Newport, Chewelah, Colville, Springdale, Loon Lake, Northport and Ione.
