Medicaid

The pandemic brought billions of extra federal dollars to the long-term care industry, which was inundated with COVID-19 infections and more than 160,000 resident deaths. Many facilities saw business decline amid lockdowns and reports of outbreaks. Staff members faced extra danger and stress. The industry is still feeling the effects.

Montana officials are looking to tighten rules around medically necessary abortions for those who use Medicaid as their health insurance. Reproductive health advocates and Democratic lawmakers have said the move is part of a broader agenda to whittle away access to the procedure.

Montana lawmakers said lowering costs and expanding patient access will be their top health care goals for the new legislative session.

Lawmakers in several conservative-led states — including Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, and Mississippi — are expected to consider proposals to provide a year of continuous health coverage to new mothers enrolled in Medicaid.

Montana’s top health official says he’s concerned about the process for how Medicaid recipients receive coverage for abortions.

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.

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.

Federal officials are expected later this year to end a pandemic-era safety net for recipients of subsidized health coverage through Medicaid. Advocates worry some people will lose their coverage unnecessarily. MTPR’s Shaylee Ragar spoke with the Montana State News Bureau’s Holly Michels about what’s changing and how recipients can prepare.

A report from the Montana Healthcare Foundation found that enrollees in Montana’s Medicaid expansion program needed less emergency care after having health coverage.

A record number of Montanans are enrolled in the state’s expanded health coverage program for low-income adults. More than 9 percent of the state's population is enrolled in the program.