Since Idaho Governor Batt used CHIP funds to expand Medicaid for children up to 150 percent of poverty by executive order in 1997, Idaho Republicans have been looking for ways to gut the state’s already lean Medicaid program. By crafting an expansion program that promises to provide some health insurance to those who currently have none, Senator Dean Cameron managed to effectively silence opposition to reduced benefits and increased cost-sharing. His program, the Access Card, uses federal CHIP matching dollars to subsidize the cost of purchasing health insurance on the private market.