Idaho budget committee rejects governor's request to expand physician recruitment program
The Idaho State Capitol building on Jan. 23, 2024 in Boise. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
With Idaho ranking at or near the bottom nationally in terms of doctors per capita, the Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee on Wednesday zeroed out a $500,000 request from Gov. Brad Little to expand a popular program that helps doctors who practice in Idaho communities that are facing a shortage of medical professionals repay their medical school debt.
This year, Little requested an additional $500,000 to expand the Rural Physician Incentive Program, which provides $25,000 a year to help physicians who provide medical care in federally-recognized Health Professional Shortage Areas in Idaho repay their academic debt. Idaho physicians may participate in the program for four years, receiving a maximum of $100,000.
At a time where most of Idaho is officially designated as a Health Provider Shortage Area, the $500,000 would have provided enough money for five additional physicians working in underserved communities.
Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, told the Idaho Capital Sun on Wednesday the Rural Physician Incentive Program is a valuable tool to help the state recruit and retain doctors.
Keller told the Sun that Idaho ranks 50th nationally when it comes to the physician-to-population ratio. Keller said some of that is due to the rapid growth Idaho has experienced over the past decade or more. But Keller said some of the shortage has to do with what she described as a pipeline for physicians practicing in Idaho. The pipeline includes K-12 public schools, colleges, medical schools, residency training, recruitment and retention.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Keller chairs the board that evaluates applications for the Rural Physicians Incentive Program, and she said the program is an important part of the recruitment and retention portion of the pipeline she described.
In their applications, physicians make compelling cases for doctors making an impact in their communities, she said.
'But with the committee it has always been the case that we have more applications for loan repayment assistance than we have funds available to award them,' Keller told the Sun.
The loan repayment program exists in Idaho state law and has been around more than a decade, but it requires funding from the Idaho Legislature.
Since 2013, 98 Idaho physicians have participated in the program, and 83% of them are still in Idaho, according to numbers from the state.
The $500,000 request to expand the repayment program went before the Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, on Wednesday morning at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.
JFAC is a powerful legislative committee that meets almost every day and sets the budgets for every state agency and every state department.
Rep. Josh Tanner, a Republican from Eagle who serves as assistant majority leader on the House Republican leadership team, made the motion to pass the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's fiscal year 2026 public health services budget enhancements with $0 funding for Little's $500,000 request to expand the physicians loan repayment program.
Tanner said he wanted to point out the loan repayment program benefits some of the most high net worth people in the state.
Tanner also said he favors a medical residency program and pointed out Idaho participates in the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, or WWAMI, cooperative education program.
At about the same time Tanner led the effort to zero out funding for the medical school repayment program, the House Education Committee passed House Bill 368, which scales back Idaho's participation in the WWAMI program, Idaho Education News reported.
'Where is enough enough within some of these programs?' Tanner said. 'And if we were going to focus on one, I would want to focus on residency and not a loan repayment program.'
Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, made an unsuccessful effort to approve Little's $500,000 request to expand the physician's loan repayment program Wednesday.
'Just so we know, Idaho ranks 50th of 50 states in active physicians per capita,' Furniss said during Wednesday's JFAC meeting.
'The more doctors we have in Idaho, it helps keep insurance costs down. It gives our people better care,' Furniss added. 'One of the problems we have in Idaho is access, and I would hope you would see the value of this program. It's helped many physicians stay in Idaho.'
Under the program, Idaho physicians providing primary care medicine, family medicine, internal medicine and pediatric medicine are eligible to participate.
The move to zero out funding to expand the physicians loan repayment programs comes on the heels of the Idaho Legislature approving record levels of tax cuts, which reduce the amount of revenue the state has available to spend in its budget.
On March 6, Little signed into law House Bill 40, which reduces individual and corporate income tax rates from 5.695% to 5.3% at a cost of $250 million per year in state revenue.
The Idaho House and Idaho Senate have both passed House Bill 231, which increases the grocery tax credit Idahoans receive each year to offset the sales tax on food by $35 per year for most Idahoans, at a cost of $50 million per year in state revenue.
Little also signed House Bill 93, which provides a refundable tax credit to reimburse Idaho families for education expenses, including tuition at private religious schools, at a cost of $50 million per year in state revenue.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Mosquitoes on the New Orleans east bank tested positive for the West Nile virus Sunday, June 8. According to officials from the New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board, mosquitos collected from the east bank of Orleans Parish tested positive for the West Nile virus. Officials said the samples indicate that the virus is circulating among mosquito and bird populations. No human cases have been reported in Orleans Parish this year. Man killed in Central City stabbing The NOMTRCB will conduct spray missions by helicopter Sunday, June 8 from 7:45 p.m. to 12 a.m. They will target Anthony, Filmore, Gentilly and the St. Bernard area bounded by Lakeshore Dr. I-610, Bayou St. John and Music Street. According to officials, most West Nile infections are asymptomatic. However, common symptoms include headache, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea and rash. In rare cases, severe illness can occur. West Nile and other mosquito-borne viruses are more active in the summer and early Johnson teases follow-ups to the 'one big, beautiful bill' Hemi power: Ram plans return to NASCAR in 2026 with Truck Series entry. Cup Series could be next Texas Republican says LA 'tip of the iceberg,' deportations 'about to go way up' Heat Advisory & Isolated Thunderstorms continue for Sunday West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Biden should've been given multiple cognitive tests while in the White House, Obama's doctor says
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden's doctor should've made him undergo multiple neurocognitive tests during his presidency, former President Barack Obama's physician told The Post. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as Obama's doctor from 2009 to 2013, highlighted in a phone interview Saturday how Biden — and all politicians over the age of 70 — should be submitted to 'a few hours' of annual mental exams and release those results to the public. 'My position is that a 78-year-old candidate, Trump at the time, an 82-year-old president [Biden] would both benefit from neurocognitive testing,' said Kuhlman, who published a book 'Transforming Presidential Healthcare,' recommending that in November 2024. Advertisement 'Any politician over the age of 70 has normal age-related cognitive decline,' Kuhlman said, pointing out that he's been making the recommendation for nearly a year — and did so in a New York Times op-ed on the day Biden bowed out of the 2024 race. 'If you look at his three physicals that were released as president, Dr. [Kevin] O'Connor wrote five to six pages, single-spaced. He referenced 10 to 20 specialist physicians.' 5 Joe Biden's doctor should've made him undergo multiple neurocognitive tests during his presidency, former President Barack Obama's physician told The Post. Getty Images Advertisement But the tests did not include any neurocognitive work, nor did Biden submit to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, as Trump did in his first term, a two-minute screening comprising around 30 questions to test for signs of dementia, according to Obama's ex-physician. 'I have no doubt that President Trump aced it,' he said of the test, but said the current White House, in the interest of full transparency, should also release CT scans that were taken after the assassination attempt against the Republican candidate in Butler, Pa., last July. Kuhlman added the Montreal Cognitive Assessment isn't adequate to determine more serious mental slippage, one of the three main areas that medical professionals should be considering when evaluating the president, along with cancer and cardiovascular issues. Memory, reasoning, speed of processing and spacial visualization all begin to decline around the age of 60, he also said. Advertisement 5 Kevin O'Connor served as Biden's doctor during his vice presidency, overlapping with Kuhlman in the White House medical unit. David Lienemann/The White House O'Connor served as Biden's doctor during his vice presidency, overlapping with Kuhlman in the White House medical unit. Kuhlman said he 'respects' O'Connor's 'medical judgment,' but also told The Washington Post: 'Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest.' In apparently his only media interview during Biden's term, O'Connor insisted to The Post in July 2024 that the president's cognitive health was 'excellent' — days after being forced out of a re-election bid and replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris due to a dismal debate performance June 27. Advertisement 5 Kuhlman said he 'respects' O'Connor's 'medical judgment,' but also told The Washington Post: 'Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest.' Getty Images In a break from his predecessors, Biden's doctor never answered questions from the press in the White House briefing room but submitted annual physical reports that noted some physical ailments without addressing the president's mental acuity, other than to say he was 'fit for duty.' 'The president doesn't need a cognitive test,' claimed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a February 2024 briefing following what would be Biden's final physical as commander-in-chief. 'He passes a cognitive test every day.' White House visitor logs show the oldest-ever president did submit to evaluation from an expert in Parkinson's disease and 20-year veteran of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Dr. Kevin Cannard, but O'Connor said the January 2024 meeting was part of Biden's annual physical. 'If somebody turns up a report that Kevin Cannard said he has Parkinson's,' said Kuhlman, 'then that's a completely different story, but we have 14 years of Kevin Cannard evaluating him and that's who I would trust.' 5 O'Connor said that was part of his annual physical and ruled out a Parkinson's diagnosis, though other doctors expressed skepticism. American Osteopathic Association O'Connor said that was part of his annual physical and ruled out a Parkinson's diagnosis, though other doctors expressed skepticism. 'I could've diagnosed him from across the Mall,' neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts told NBC in July 2024, pointing to Biden's 'rigidity,' 'shuffling gait' and 'slow movement.' Advertisement Special Counsel Robert Hur, who determined that Biden 'willfully' hoarded classified documents after leaving the Obama White House, chose not to bring charges months earlier that year in February, in part because a jury would view the president as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.' The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor on Thursday to appear for questioning about the former president's mental abilities on June 27. 5 The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor on Thursday to appear for questioning about the former president's mental abilities on June 27. AP Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) in a cover letter accompanying the subpoena suggested the doctor's past 'financial relationship with the Biden family' may have 'contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people.' Advertisement Jean-Pierre, who left the Democratic Party and is publishing a tell-all book about the 'broken' Biden administration, is also expected to be hauled in for testimony. Days before a book was set to be published alleging a vast cover-up of his decline during his last two years in the White House, Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. The book, 'Original Sin,' notes that O'Connor was reluctant to administer a cognitive test, according to co-authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Advertisement Kuhlman said O'Connor had conducted tests for that kind of cancer between 2009 and 2014 when they served together in the White House, but it may not have been 'worth doing in the next 10 years' based on the findings of that final exam, known as a PSA, in the vice presidency. 'I hope that Kevin O'Connor had that conversation every year with his patient, Joe Biden, and documented that in the medical record,' he said. 'If he did the PSA and chose not to release it, I don't agree with that.'


New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
New bill would mandate 'anti-choking' devices in NYC schools
Every school in NYC would be required to have 'airway clearance devices' to help prevent choking deaths under a City Council bill gaining bipartisan steam. The legislation sponsored by Bronx Republican Kristy Marmorato would mandate that city schools stock the portable, suction-based devices on site. It already has support from 11 Democrats and four other Republicans, and was expected to be the subject of a public hearing this month. The devices, which can be self-administered and are considered an alternative to the Heimlich maneuver, usually run $50 to $70 each, but Long Island-based LifeVac has offered to supply each Big Apple school with a device and an instructional video on how they work at no charge, according to the company. 3 NYC Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato (R-Bronx) sponsored a bill that would mandate city schools stock 'airway clearance devices' to help prevent choking deaths. James Keivom Heidi Felix, LifeVac's vice president of sales, said the company has already donated more than 10,000 devices to schools nationwide and welcomes doing the same in NYC. There's more than 1,800 public schools and about 900 private schools in the Big Apple. The issue is personal for Marmorato. 3 LifeVac has already donated more than 10,000 devices to schools nationwide and welcomes doing the same in NYC. LifeVac She had a scary incident eight years ago when her then-18-month-old daughter choked on a piece of apple. A trained health care professional, Marmorato was able to save her daughter — but recalled it was a 'very frightening experience.' Her grandfather, Michael Rendino, died three decades ago while choking on a piece of meat at a restaurant after the Heimlich maneuver failed. 3 More than 1,800 public schools and about 900 private schools in the Big Apple would have the life-saving devices under the bill. Monkey Business – 'This is not just about my child,' she said. 'It's about all the children in New York City. Even if one device saves one kid's life, it's tremendous, and it's a win for parents and families.' She said she expects the legislation to be approved,considering it won't cost taxpayers a cent. Albany pols are reviewing similar legislation to require schools statewide to stock 'airway clearance devices.' City Hall spokesman Zachary Nosanchuk said the Department of Education and Mayor's Office will review the legislation, but added 'we continue to train [school] staff to use the Heimlich maneuver' because it remains the 'recommended first-aid technique to save children who are choking.'