KFF

State health officials remain committed to a plan for implementing work requirements and other major changes to Medicaid months before a federal deadline. Federal officials aren’t expected to release detailed guidance until June, raising concerns about whether the state's plan is feasible.

Mobile crisis teams are struggling. These are the teams of mental health professionals that respond to behavioral health calls instead of police. Those programs don’t have reliable funding, and the teams that remain say they need help.

Open enrollment for the federal health insurance marketplace is just a couple weeks away. Montanans might experience some sticker shock when they start shopping around.

Montanans with marketplace health insurance plans will pay significantly more starting next year. That’s because premiums are likely to spike just as federal benefits that help pay those bills expire.

Around 66,000 Montanans rely on the federal marketplace to buy health insurance. Many get enhanced subsidies that Congress passed to help people afford premiums during the pandemic. They expire later this year. For some, premiums could be more than three times as expensive if the subsidies aren’t renewed.

The number of Montanans enrolled in federally subsidized health insurance plans over the past four years increased by about 50%, or about 22,000 people. The growth is attributed to enhanced subsidies during the pandemic. But those are set to expire at the end of next year. This fall’s election could impact whether they’re renewed.

About two-thirds of those who were kicked off state Medicaid rolls lost it for technical reasons like incorrectly filling out paperwork. That’s one of the highest procedural disenrollment rates nationwide, according to an analysis.

Most nursing home staff and residents in Montana aren’t up-to-date on their COVID vaccines, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.

In recent years Montana has seen one of the largest increases in suicides nationwide.

More than 15,000 Montanans lost Medicaid coverage in April and that number will continue to grow as the state continues to reevaluate program eligibility.