State health officials say that Montanans on Medicaid will now have increased access to treatment after the federal government waived a restriction on what types of facilities can provide care for Medicaid patients.
The bipartisan agreement’s focus on mental health has raised hopes — and doubts — that it will help reduce gun suicides, particularly in rural Western states with wide-open gun laws.
There are a little more than 62,000 children younger than 5 years old statewide, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. While Montana health officials expect more vaccines for kids in that age group to be ordered in the coming weeks, demand could be lower compared to older children.
St. Vincent Healthcare will replace its main building with one that adds 42 rooms and 180,000 square feet to its Billings campus, the equivalent of almost two city blocks.
Mike Randol took over May 31 as head of Montana’s Medicaid program, which serves 280,000 people who live in low-income households or have disabilities in a state of 1.1 million people. The program has a roughly $2.3 billion annual budget, with the federal government picking up about 80% of the total.
As frustrated mothers search for formula, one local nonprofit has helped bridge the gap for moms facing just that issue. Mother’s Milk Bank of Montana is the region’s only breastmilk bank, serving hospitals from Idaho to the Dakotas and Wyoming.
Aimed at serving a regional "abortion desert," the clinic plans to open, despite the expected overturn of Roe v. Wade. It's become a focal point for abortion debate in the state.