Established in 1972, the department was created to carry out the mandates and intent of Idaho Law contained in Title 31, Chapters 34 & 35 of the Idaho Code. The purpose of these laws is to provide limited and temporary assistance to Kootenai County residents for the payment of some non-medical and medical expenses. Assistance from Kootenai County is required to be "as a last resort" only; or when no alternative exists. County assistance does not supplement any other type of assistance such as Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, private insurance, worker's compensation, veteran benefits, etc. All counties in Idaho, including Kootenai County, will require repayment of any taxpayer funds used to assist a county resident under these laws.

Before assistance can be provided, however, certain requirements will have to be met. An application must be filled out. The applicant must present him/herself for an interview and must be prepared to provide personal information regarding the applicant's living situation, income, assets of all types, insurance, resources, and much more. Once this information has been gathered, an interviewer will conduct a thorough investigation to substantiate the data and then make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for approval or denial.

You should also know that Idaho law provides that an automatic lien is created on all real and personal property of those who file an application for county medical assistance under these laws.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

There is no fee to file an application. Requests for medical assistance application can be found on the Idaho Health and Welfare website or by clicking here. All medical providers and hospitals in the state have the necessary application forms for medical assistance.

The application for ALL non medical requests can be obtained by clicking here, calling our office at (208) 446-1880, coming to the office at 451 Government Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID, or emailing your request to with your mailing address.