House panel to vote on insurance exchange Thursday
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The House Health and Welfare Committee is gearing up to vote on a state-based insurance exchange.
A second day of hearings had been planned, but things wrapped up Thursday.
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter favors creating a state-based version of these online marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to buy insurance is actually a salvo against federal domination.
Critics say he's acquiescing to federal demands.
Defenders of both views were in the Capitol Thursday morning, as the panel began debate on Otter's bill.
David Hensley, Otter's chief of staff, argued Idaho will have more control over a less-expensive exchange with the state version.
Karen Calisterio, of the libertarian-leaning Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho, countered that those behind a state exchange were merely taking "a seat at the table of tyranny."
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