{"id":1551,"date":"2022-02-14T20:45:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T03:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2022-02-14T20:45:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T03:45:16","slug":"celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1551","title":{"rendered":"Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Firework dud\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AsrXJmllews?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our legislature dislocated a couple shoulders this last week patting themselves on the back. I could give some cheap medical advice about getting them back in their sockets, but then I\u2019d be as guilty as the docs giving the Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine prescriptions online, so I\u2019ll pass on that one. I need a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then our Governor has a campaign event, oops, a public relations event and signs the bill with a bunch of adoring teachers looking on. He didn\u2019t dislocate his shoulder, but he was fawning for adulation. I don\u2019t have a prescription for that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All these self-congratulatory contortions had to do with the Governor\u2019s brilliant idea to let teachers get health insurance on the state health insurance policy. Despite what he says, it\u2019s not a new idea. And the punchline is brutal. I\u2019m no standup comedian, so I don\u2019t know how to set this one up. All those twisted shoulders and bend overs had little meat or potatoes even. But I guess that\u2019s what career politicians do. Make grandiose statements, whip up fervor, then go back to doing nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the simple truth about all this ado. If you look at the big pot, taxpayer money, and decipher what this means for us in the long run, it\u2019s just not much. It\u2019s not worth even a little shoulder pain. But hey, it\u2019s an election year. You\u2019ll be seeing more of these shenanigans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teachers get health insurance, like any full-time worker should. Districts look around for the cheapest policies and best benefits and negotiate with insurers for the best deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state has a health insurance program that they fund themselves but contract with Blue Cross of Idaho to administer. The State of Idaho is the largest employer in the state (sorry Wayne Hoffman) and self-funds the insurance, meaning they keep a pot of money for Blue Cross to draw from and then pay BCI a percentage for making those payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where is the savings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, if the local district is reimbursed from the state for health insurance that\u2019s a big cost savings for them. If teachers get their health insurance paid for from general fund dollars (sales taxes and income taxes) and districts don\u2019t have to pay from their resources (property taxes) then we have shifted a big cost from local taxes to statewide taxes. Savings? Not really, just a shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you really believe having the biggest pool of patients will drive down costs (and it MIGHT) then you are talking single payer health insurance, and that\u2019s talking communism in Idaho. I think there\u2019s a law against that. At least there\u2019s one about teachers talking about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, these politicians are head over heels that they have saved small districts, maybe even big districts some money. You should be too since you will need to be voting soon. And I\u2019m saying they haven\u2019t, just shifted the costs. If they really believed heath insurance costs should come from general funds, the big bucket, instead of property taxes (local buckets) then they could have funded these costs years ago. Believe me, it was talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But here\u2019s the brutal punchline you voters need to know. What was the price tag for this magnanimous endeavor? Millions? Nope. <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.idaho.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sessioninfo\/2022\/legislation\/H0443SOP.pdf\">Not a dollar was expended<\/a>. This law that the legislature passed, and the Governor signed in front of a bunch of fawning teachers didn\u2019t cost a dime. It only set up a fund, without a dollar in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that is their intent they will scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe. Time will tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They\u2019ve done this before. The politicians you and I elect do this frequently. Just look at the Idaho Housing Trust Fund. It was established in 1992, back when there was some balance in the Idaho legislature. <a href=\"https:\/\/idahocapitalsun.com\/2021\/07\/23\/idaho-established-a-housing-trust-fund-in-92-but-it-was-never-funded-what-happened\/#:~:text=In%20Idaho%2C%20the%20fund%20exists,Island%20also%20have%20unfunded%20trusts.\"><em>But it was never funded<\/em><\/a>. It could never receive matching federal dollars to build affordable housing. (Smile Wayne).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you happy teachers and property taxpayers, your health insurance check is not in the mail. Don\u2019t thank Brad or your legislator. Yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our legislature dislocated a couple shoulders this last week patting themselves on the back. I could give some cheap medical advice about getting them back in their sockets, but then I\u2019d be as guilty as the docs giving the Ivermectin &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1551\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1552,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}