Montana soft-launched Medicaid work requirements July 1, months ahead of the federal deadline to do so.
About 70,000 Montanans on the public health insurance program will now have to prove they are working, volunteering or going to school 80 hours per month. There’s also a wide range of exemptions.
State health officials told lawmakers that a little over 7,000 enrollees went through the new renewal process in July and August.
They said the state health department’s computer systems were able to automatically renew about half of those people. The other half will need to fill out paperwork.
Health providers and Medicaid advocates worry about that automatic renewal process. That’s because some computer systems won’t be running until later this year or in 2027. Critics say Medicaid paperwork can be confusing and mistakes can lead to people unnecessarily losing coverage.
The state health department says this summer was a trial run and that no one lost coverage. But starting Oct. 1, anyone not complying with the rules will be kicked off the rolls.
State lawmakers asked how many people would have lost coverage this summer. State health officials said they didn’t have that data yet.
