Holy Spirit in Action

Hours before a House committee was set to vote on competing bills to extend Montana Medicaid, a new study commissioned by Montana hospitals indicates even larger economic benefits for the state in the past two-and-a-half years. Among the findings: • The expansion has led to an additional $2 billion of economic activity in Montana, using a common economic multiplier effect. It supported or created an additional 9,700 jobs during that time period and nearly $800 million of associated wages. • In fiscal 2017, about 8 percent of Montana’s population was covered by Medicaid expansion — about the same as Washington and Colorado, but less than Oregon (10.8 percent) and more than North Dakota (2.7 percent). South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah did not have expanded Medicaid that year. • Montana’s rate of people without health insurance dropped 56 percent from 2013 to 2016, in large part because of Medicaid expansion. The only other state in the region with a higher percentage drop was Ore...

The number of Medicaid Expansion enrollees in Montana could be cut in half under a bill carried by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, according to an analysis by the governor's office. Buttrey's work and reporting requirements would force recipients off the rolls, the governor's office said. The analysis relies in part on a previous study by George Washington University. 

Saturday's rally at the state capitol for Medicaid Expansion was timed for the start of the hearings before the House Human Services Committee on two bills with competing visions of how best to continue coverage before it expires at the end of June. As t he deadline for the full House to pass an expansion bill and send it over to the Senate is April 1, expect some fireworks in the next two weeks.

Now that HB 658, carried by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, which adds "community engagement" requirements to Medicaid Expansion has been introduced, it is now possible to analyze the differences between that bill and the one carried by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Billings. And the Montana Budget and Policy Center has done just that . Bottom line, 40,000 Montanans could lose their health care coverage under Buttrey's bill, including many in Missoula. Here is a look at how Medicaid Expansion has benefited Missoulians and Missoula businesses (taken from the appendices to the MBPC report). The initial hearing on both bills will be on Saturday.

John Adams (Montana Free Press) conducts an excellent discussion with two of the principal actors in this year's Medicaid Expansion debate--Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Billings, whose bill, HB 425, would continue the program as is, and Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, who is drafting a bill that would add what he calls "community engagement" requirements. The in-depth discussion really adds to one's understanding of the debate, and even though it's 40 minutes, it's well worth the listen. (You can always break the listening up into chunks.)

Published in today's Missoulian ( Sunday, March 10, p. E3 ): Medicaid Expansion Works As Is We at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, drawing on our religious traditions, scripture, and the ministry and example of Jesus, support continuing Medicaid Expansion to care for those who simply cannot afford other health care.   Former Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, Desmond Tutu, once said, “...the good news to a hungry person is bread.” He could just as well have said that the good news to a sick -person is health care. Jesus' ministry was filled with healing the sick. He cured them, gave them back their health, renewed life, and restored.   He told us to do likewise. Medicaid Expansion in Montana will expire in June unless continued by the State Legislature. Few people have anything but praise for this program. Some 95,000 Montanans have coverage they didn't have before. They receive medical care earlier, which many recipients say has improved thei...

Montana Free Press has a new website that allows you to track the status of all legislation introduced in this biennial session of the Montana Legislature, and also to see each legislator's voting record. Check it out!