The number of Montana residents who had their Medicaid coverage revoked recently surpassed 100,000 individuals.
The roughly 104,000 people who have been removed from the federal health care program account for nearly half of all cases reviewed in the state since April, according to new data from the state health department that's updated about once a month. There were 320,000 people covered by Medicaid in Montana before the redetermination process started.
The removals are happening across the country. While the federal government’s public health emergency was in effect for the COVID-19 pandemic, people previously approved for coverage stayed on Medicaid regardless of if they no longer qualified under certain metrics. With the end of the official public health emergency, states started to reconfirm residents’ eligibility for the program, which has led to droves of people being removed nationwide.
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The leading cause for disenrollment – 63% – is a failure to provide requested information to the state health department, while about 30% of Montanans were deemed no longer eligible.
There are numerous reasons why someone could be determined ineligible for Medicaid and one of the leading causes is that someone’s income has risen beyond the qualifying threshold, which is about $1,616 per month for most single adults.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has previously stated that it’s starting the unwinding process with people who are more likely to no longer qualify such as the Medicaid expansion population.
So far, nearly 81,000 Montanans have been renewed for the program. The unwinding is projected to span 10 months total.
“DPHHS is committed to ensuring that only Montanans eligible for taxpayer-funded health care maintain their Medicaid coverage, and transitioning those no longer eligible due to employment or other factors to alternative coverage options,” said Jon Ebelt, DPHHS Communications Director.
Montana has experienced particularly bad operational issues -- namely phone wait times -- compared to other states as people try to reenroll in the health care program.
In an August letter from the federal government addressed to Montana’s Medicaid Director Mike Randol, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services raised concerns about the state's unwinding process.
The letter cited concerns about a call abandonment rate of 40% and an average call center wait time of 42 minutes and for individuals calling about their coverage.
“Based on your state’s data, CMS has concerns that your average call center wait time and abandonment rate are impeding equitable access to assistance and the ability for people to apply for or renew Medicaid and CHIP coverage by phone and may indicate potential non-compliance with federal requirements,” the document read.
Fifteen other states also received a similar letter from the federal government.
Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, and House Minority Leader Kim Abbott, D-Helena, released a joint statement Tuesday.
"Montana has passed a devastating milestone – Governor Gianforte has kicked over 100,000 Montanans off of their health insurance, with thousands more slated to lose coverage in the coming months,” the Democratic leaders wrote. “Republicans are overseeing the single largest loss of health coverage our state has ever witnessed, jeopardizing the health and safety of thousands of working Montanans, and undermining the viability of small businesses and rural hospitals."
The governor’s office did not provide comment.
Medicaid will be one of the most hot-button topics at the state's next legislative session in 2025 as Medicaid expansion is set to expire in June of that same year. Montana expanded Medicaid under Obamacare in 2015 and has renewed the expanded program once since then.
Montana residents can visit apply.mt.gov to apply for Medicaid and get more information. People who lost coverage can reapply at any time or go to healthcare.gov to see if they can purchase a plan on the federal marketplace.
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