Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

State health officials Thursday updated lawmakers on their plan to improve care at the Montana State Hospital and to apply for federal recertification in roughly 18 months. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pulled certification following patient deaths, blocking Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements from flowing to the state hospital.

A trial is underway in federal court in Missoula to decide whether a law banning vaccination status discrimination can apply to health care providers.

A policy change by the Biden administration could, within a few years, mean the end of an expansion that currently provides more than 100,000 low-income Montanans access to health insurance.

State health officials say they have signed a contract with a Helena-based consulting firm to address patient safety issues at the Montana State Hospital. The federal government pulled funding for the hospital this week citing safety problems that resulted in patient deaths.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in February warned the state it could lose funding after they found that the Montana State Hospital didn’t have measures in place to prevent COVID-19 infections and serious falls among patients, which led to four deaths.

Montana’s governor pushed the state’s health workers to seek religious exemptions to a federal mandate to be vaccinated against COVID, but the number who have done so is unknown, leaving immunocompromised patients worried.

The Montana State Hospital has received an extension to work out a possible deal with federal health officials to prevent the loss of Medicare funding.

Federal inspectors found that the Montana State Hospital failed to prevent serious falls and didn’t implement COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Three COVID-19 patient infections resulted in death. The hospital has until March 13 to correct the issues or it could lose federal Medicare funding.

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