The Governor Just Kicked Off 11,000 Montanans from Medicaid Because of Red Tape
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 20th, 2023
CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org
Helena, MT – Following Governor Gianforte’s plan to redetermine the eligibilityof Montanans enrolled on Medicaid, Montana DPHHS released their April 2023 Medicaid disenrollment statistics, and the results are shocking. 15,000 Montanans have been disenrolled from Medicaid – of those, over 11,000 Montanans have been kicked off their insurance simply because they didn’t respond in time to the state’s mailed information requests. Another 400 had their insurance yanked because the paperwork was mailed to the wrong address.
“Governor Gianforte’s red tape requirements have directly resulted in over 11,000 Montanans losing their health care simply because of paperwork,” said Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “For many Montanans, Medicaid coverage can be the difference between life and death – the Governor should be deeply ashamed of his profound failure of leadership.”
Starting in April, Governor Greg Gianforte’s administration began to redetermine the eligibility of every Montanan on Medicaid. However, the state notified Montanans about whether or not their health care coverage had been ended by mail only. The result? Over 11,000 Montanans have been kicked off their health insurance because they did not respond to that paper mail notification. An additional 3,000 were deemed to now be ineligible to receive health insurance through Medicaid.
Lower-income families are twice as likely as their wealthy counterparts to “experience frequent moves," according to a 2015 study in the Social Service Review.
According to the Health Insurance Simulation Model, 48,000 Montananscurrently enrolled on Medicaid are expected to lose their coverage by June 2024. [Table B.4] A quarter of all Montanans get their health insurance through Medicaid/CHIP. 96% of Montana Medicaid members are employed or caring for themselves or a loved one.
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