A lawsuit argues the state’s process for redetermining Medicaid eligibility after the pandemic was intentionally devised to kick as many Montanans off the program as possible.
The federal government barred states from taking anyone off Medicaid during the pandemic, but lifted that freeze in 2023. Montana kicked about 135,000 people off the insurance program in the roughly 10 months after that freeze was lifted. That’s according to state data.
Both state and third-party analysis found a large portion of the people unenrolled still qualified.
Two Montanans are suing the state over how they were kicked off Medicaid.
Certain groups like those with disabilities or people who aged out of the state foster care system should have automatically been re-enrolled. The two women suing say they belong to those groups and still lost coverage.
One of the women was allegedly unable to shower for a month because she could no longer get in-home caregiving services.
Former statewide political candidate Raph Graybill and the nonprofit law firm Upper Seven filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missoula.
They’re asking the court to make the case a class action lawsuit that would allow other Montanans to join.
The state health department declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
