Montana’s top health official on Friday said the Gianforte administration is undecided on whether it will try to regain Medicare and Medicaid funding at the Montana State Hospital.
Charlie Brereton, the state health department director, said that while conditions for patients and staff at the state hospital are improving, it could take two years to get the facility recertified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Certification is required to get federal health care money.
The state hospital lost federal funding earlier this year due to patient deaths.
Brereton said he is waiting for an assessment from a consulting firm that will map out the path to federal recertification.
“They will be starting from the ground up, turning over every stone at the state hospital, and before we formally move in that direction [I] want to make sure we are resourced adequately and confident we can get there,” Brereton told lawmakers Friday on the Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee.
Brereton and other state health officials said the state hospital was $17 million over budget this past fiscal year after hiring traveling medical staff and losing the federal money.
Health officials estimate the state will lose $25 million if the state hospital doesn’t receive federal certification within the next two years.
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