Medicaid

For one Montana family, lead contamination in their home brought on what one parent describes as the “biggest trial we’ve ever been through.”

Federal officials are expected later this year to end a pandemic-era safety net for recipients of subsidized health coverage through Medicaid. Advocates worry some people will lose their coverage unnecessarily. MTPR’s Shaylee Ragar talks with the Montana State News Bureau’s Holly Michels about what’s changing and how recipients can prepare.

A report from the Montana Healthcare Foundation found that enrollees in Montana’s Medicaid expansion program needed less emergency care after having health coverage.

A hospital network in northwest Montana is among the many health care systems in the state that will follow a federal rule requiring staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Hospitals that don’t comply could lose federal funding.

St. Vincent Healthcare, RiverStone Health and Billings Clinic said in a joint statement that “Bottom line ... we are requiring our healthcare workers to become vaccinated against COVID-19."

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Adam Meier Friday called the Biden Administration’s new COVID vaccine mandate for health care facilities “unfortunate,” arguing that it will exacerbate Montana’s current health care worker shortage.

A proposal to create a politically appointed panel to decide who gets Medicaid coverage for abortions was met with bipartisan pushback last session. Republican lawmakers compromised and changed the proposal to a study of the issue over the next two years instead.

A record number of Montanans are enrolled in the state’s expanded health coverage program for low-income adults. More than 9% of the state's population is…

Before the end of the legislative session closed, Montana lawmakers reversed course on a proposal that would have required a politically-appointed panel…

Montana lawmakers have advanced a proposal to allocate money for the creation of a politically-appointed panel that would decide which patients can…