Plain and simple people get sick.

Right now, more than 250,000 predominantly low-income Montanans get help with healthcare through Medicaida state-federal partnership. Montana has overall and primary responsibility, while the Feds pick up most of the costs, averaging 80% (of total Medicaid spending). In 2022, the Federal government provided $1.8 billion to cover health care for Medicaid-eligible Montanans who live in every county across the Big Sky. Remarkably, two-thirds of Medicaid recipients live in our rural communities.

So, what is Medicaid, and who does it serve?

Not only does Medicaid fund health care services for our lower-income neighbors including children, families, and pregnant moms, but it also covers those with serious disabilities. By reducing the number of uninsured, Medicaid has also helped keep healthcare insurance costs down for everyone while pumping money into Montanas economy. The Medicaid reimbursements for rural and urban healthcare providers keep the doors of healthcare facilities open and help retain healthcare providers. Small businesses also benefit from Medicaid, as they often cannot afford to provide health insurance for their employeeswhether they work full or part-time.

Medicaid Expansion is a critical program for our Native American Montanans. The Indian Health Service continues to be woefully underfunded; a recent series of newspaper articles illustrates the healthcare challenges facing those who reside on reservations. Medicaid has greatly boosted services to Native Americans, allowing them to access a broader range of healthcare providers. The federal government reimburses the care provided to Native Americans on Medicaid at 100%.

Despite the benefits of Medicaid, we now have more than 120,000 Montanans18% of kiddoswho have lost Medicaid coverage due to DPHHSs procedural snafus. The end of the COVID public health emergency necessitated each state to review eligibility for Medicaid. Thats reasonable; however, Montana launched a process that is difficult, confusing, and sometimes impossible for people to reapply or maintain eligibility. The result: Almost one-in-every-three Medicaid recipients has been denied not because of eligibility, but 64% for technical or procedural issues. Montana now has among the highest and worst records in the nation for terminating health insurance for children. Disgraceful.

Reports indicate 4- to 6-hour telephone waits and multiple tries for Medicaid recipients to provide documentation to keep their insurance. Unbelievably, some folks did not know their coverage had been terminated until they arrived at the doctors office. What happened to Gov. Greg Gianfortes political promises of less bureaucracy?

Alarmed by Montanas record, federal healthcare authorities have twice requested changes to this processechoing a chorus of local healthcare providers (such as the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians) asking for a 30-day pause to stop children from losing their coverage. Meanwhile, state officials seem hell-bent on purging the Medicaid rolls, to the detriment of peoples health as well as our economy.

Is this purging a signal of things to come? Medicaid Expansion must be renewedduring the 2025 legislative session. Montanas Medicaid program is not plagued by fraud and abuseexactly the opposite. Its bewildering to think about the consequences of this purge. Ironically there is an ongoing major mental health reform initiative, aimed at expanding access. Yet, many of those losing Medicaid need mental or behavioral health servicesbut will no longer be eligible.

The governor is taking Montana backward, not forward Is this the Montana we want for our children, those less fortunate, or folks in rural areas?

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Let's set the record straight on Montana's Medicaid Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan