Medicaid expansion is one vote away from the governor's desk. A bill that would maintain the state’s program passed a key vote in the Senate Thursday.
Medicaid expansion provides health insurance to people who make too much for traditional Medicaid but also can’t afford private insurance.
Most House lawmakers approved the bill earlier this month. A little over half of Montana senators also voted in favor of the program.
Republican Sen. Gayle Lammers of Hardin carried the bill in the Senate. He sold the legislation based on the economics.
“If you look at the numbers, more than 20,000 Montana businesses employ workers on Medicaid expansion, a large majority of which are food service, retailers, manufacturing businesses, agriculture businesses and construction companies.”
Lammers also cited state statistics that show virtually all enrollees are caretakers, in school, disabled, elderly or are working. The bill allows the state to ask the federal government for permission to implement work requirements. State health officials plan to do so if the legislation is signed by the Gov. Greg Gianforte.
Some conservative senators said the program cost too much and said the work requirements included too many exemptions.
Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth, who voted against Medicaid expansion’s renewal in 2019, said he had come around to Medicaid expansion because his own family has benefited.
“Do people abuse this? I think it could be ripe for abuse, but do we punish the majority because of a few bad actors? No, we don’t. It’s not what we do.”
But others like Senate President Matt Regeir weren’t convinced.
“We need to have a conversation about what is the role of state government. There’s a taxpayer to the other side of this. It’s not just the enrollees of this program,” Regeir said.
The Senate will have one more procedural vote before the legislation is sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. Gianforte’s proposed budget included funding for Medicaid expansion.
