Montana Labor Department: Medicaid Expansion Work Program 'Fantastic'
Last week the Trump administration made a historic change to Medicaid , the health coverage program that’s jointly funded by the states and federal government. For the first time, states were given the...
View ArticleBallot Initiative Would Re-authorize Montana Medicaid Expansion
Two healthcare groups plan to ask Montana voters to continue the state’s Medicaid expansion in November, and to fund it with a higher tax on tobacco . The Montana Hospital Association and the American...
View ArticleMontana Medicaid Expansion Pays For Itself, UM Economist Says
The hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars that Medicaid expansion is bringing to Montana have added thousands of jobs here and significantly boosted the state’s economy. It’s enough of a boost to...
View ArticleGov. Bullock Praises Economic Benefits Of Medicaid Expansion
Governor Steve Bullock is praising a new report outlining the economic benefits of Medicaid expansion in Montana . The program expanding health insurance coverage for people with low incomes is set to...
View ArticleMedicaid Expansion Stimulates Montana Economy, Report Shows
Medicaid expansion in Montana is expected to cost the state more than $58 million annually in a couple of years. But, a new economic analysis says the healthcare program in on track to pay for itself...
View ArticleMontana Tobacco Tax Increase Initiative Approved For Signature-Gathering
A ballot initiative group hoping to generate new state revenue to fund Medicaid expansion services has been approved to start gathering signatures for an initiative raising taxes on tobacco and...
View ArticleGov Bullock Launches Tour To Tout Medicaid Expansion
Governor Steve Bullock launched a statewide tour today to, in his words, "highlight the health and economic benefits of Medicaid" in Montana. At Missoula’s Providence Hospital, Bullock cited a...
View Article$2 Million Grant Targets Montana's Worsening Opioid Crisis
The Trump administration this week released almost $500 million to combat the nation’s opioid crisis. Montana’s share of that federal funding from Health and Human Services is $2 million, the same...
View ArticleI-185 Links Tobacco Taxes To Medicaid Expansion Funding
Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, which provides more than 93,000 people in the state health coverage, expires in just over a year. Campaigns are now underway to stop that from happening and to...
View ArticleMontana's Uninsured Rate Steady, Medicaid Expansion Beneficial, New Studies Say
A report being released today says Montana’s uninsured rate is staying steady at about half of what it was before Medicaid expansion started in 2016. It says just under eight percent of Montanans now...
View ArticleBallots Mailed For Vote On Special Legislative Session
Ballots for Montana state lawmakers to vote on convening a special legislative session were dropped in the mail today, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. The proposal for a special session...
View ArticleMontana Special Legislative Session Facing Increasing Opposition
Montana lawmakers have a little less than two weeks to decide whether to come back to Helena for a special legislative session, potentially the second in eight months. “It’s going to be a very heavy...
View ArticleMedicaid Oversight Committee Expected To Recommend Expansion Continue
The committee that oversees Montana’s Medicaid expansion is expected to recommend that it continue beyond its 2019 sunset date. A draft document released Friday suggests expansion has helped nine...
View ArticleVice President Mike Pence The Latest To Campaign in Montana For Matt Rosendale
Vice President Mike Pence was the latest to rail against Montana’s Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester who faces re-election in November. Over the past 4 ½ weeks President Donald Trump, Donald Trump...
View ArticleMontana Supreme Court Leaves Tax Initiative Ballot Language Alone
A unanimous Montana Supreme Court has rejected a tobacco industry-funded group's request to rewrite the ballot statement of a citizen's initiative to raise the state's tobacco taxes . The opinion by...
View ArticleOver $2 Million Backing Campaigns For, Against Tobacco Tax Initiative
A fight backed by hospitals and tobacco companies over an initiative that will appear on Montana ballots this November has amassed more than $2 million. Ballot Initiative 185 asks voters to raise taxes...
View ArticleBig Tobacco Boosts I-185 Opposition Spending By Nearly $8 Million
The latest fundraising reports show that opponents of the ballot initiative proposing increasing Montana’s tobacco tax boosted contributions by $7.7 million in August. That’s nearly eight times what...
View ArticleGov Bullock Warns Of Budget Problems If Tobacco Tax Initiative Fails
Governor Steve Bullock told county government leaders Wednesday that a ballot initiative to increase Montana’s tobacco tax is the right thing to do for basic health-related reasons. On Wednesday,...
View ArticleMontana Lawmakers From Both Parties Concerned About I-185
I-185, the state ballot measure that would raise tobacco taxes in order to continue Montana’s Medicaid expansion, has state lawmakers from both parties concerned.
View ArticleHealth Care Professionals Rally In Support of Montana's I-185
Opponents of the ballot initiative to raise Montana’s tobacco tax dumped more than $3.5 million into their campaign in September - raising their spending total to more than $12 million.
View Article
