A group of 65 hospitals, health departments, advocacy groups and tribes are asking Gov. Greg Gianforte to invest in services that will help Montanans maintain Medicaid coverage.
The group this week sent a letter to Gianforte asking him to reopen public assistance offices that help people apply for Medicaid or recertify their eligibility.
State budget cuts in 2017 closed 19 public assistance offices.
The letter also calls on the governor to bolster staffing at the public assistance helpline, and in state Medicaid offices that process paperwork.
The letter said lack of staff and public assistance made it difficult for Montanans to understand and correctly file paperwork as the state reevaluated nearly 300,000 people’s eligibility for Medicaid programs over the past year.
A little over 93,000 Montanans lost coverage during that process for procedural reasons such as filling out paperwork incorrectly or not updating their address. That’s according to state data.
The state health department says it’s working on its budget ahead of the next legislative session and will consider the requests.
