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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Legislators take up debate over whether or not to renew Medicaid expansion

Up to 75,000 Montanans will lose health care coverage if lawmakers don’t renew Medicaid expansion. There are competing visions to make the program permanent and some who want to end it.

The House Human Services Committee held a marathon hearing Wednesday on two bills that would keep Medicaid expansion on the books for good. But that’s where the similarities end.

Great Falls Republican Rep. Ed Buttrey’s bill would keep the expansion program as it is now. That includes work requirements, which would need to be approved by the Trump administration.

He told the committee Medicaid expansion is a boon to the state’s economy and the budget.

“Our program is a budget savings to the general fund," said Buttrey.

Buttrey says it saves the state roughly $27 million. That’s because the federal government pays for 90 percent of the program and it stabilizes funding for rural hospitals, paving the way for more jobs paying into state coffers.

Expansion also covers state prison inmates. Buttrey reminded lawmakers that the state paid for all inmates’ care prior to the program.

Helena Democratic Rep. Mary Caferro’s bill goes beyond removing the sunset on the expansion program. It would reopen 10 public assistance offices, make improvements to the state helpline and reinstate 12-month continuous eligibility. That allows people to submit renewal paperwork once a year rather than any time their financial situation changes.

Cut Bank Mayor Kim Winchell helps people apply and recertify their Medicaid eligibility for her day job. She told lawmakers those changes would help more people stay on Medicaid rather than losing coverage for administrative reasons.

“People are putting off medical procedures, people’s medical bills are being sent to collection before their application can even be processed by Medicaid," said Winchell.

Both bills received support from tribal nations, major medical associations and local providers. There was no opposition to either.

Lawmakers this week also held a hearing on a bill that would end the expansion program. No one spoke in support of it.

Aaron graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism in 2015 after interning at Minnesota Public Radio. He landed his first reporting gig in Wrangell, Alaska where he enjoyed the remote Alaskan lifestyle and eventually moved back to the road system as the KBBI News Director in Homer, Alaska. He joined the MTPR team in 2019. Aaron now reports on all things in northwest Montana and statewide health care.
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