Medicaid expansion totals surpass estimates

HELENA – Enrollment in a new Medicaid expansion program totals 38,298 as of March 15, with American Indians as 12 percent of the enrollees, members of a state panel overseeing expansion of the program in Montana were told Tuesday.

The Montana Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership Oversight Committee reviewed the numbers for the HELP Act, passed by the 2015 state Legislature.

“I am just really pleased with how the program is going and the progress being made,” said committee chairman John Goodnow, who is also the chief executive officer of Benefis Health System in Great Falls.

Officials said they had expected about 22,000 to be enrolled in first year.

Tara Veazy, Gov. Steve Bullock’s health policy adviser, said the governor’s office has received several emails and calls from people praising the act.

“I’ve never heard more positive stories in the governor’s office than from Medicaid expansion,” she said.

Veazy noted one single mother who was able to get insurance for her family after not having insurance for nearly six years. The woman was able to get cataract surgery and was then able to concentrate more on her business.

In another, a man whose wife had a rare tumor successfully removed called to say thank you, she said.

The governor’s office has estimated that 70,000 people or more would be eligible for coverage under the expansion, but legislative fiscal analysts predicted about 45,700 would actually participate over the next four years.

In November, Montana became the 30th state to expand its Medicaid program after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ approved provisions that include requiring beneficiaries to pay premiums that amount to 2 percent of their income.

Those provisions were included to make certain new Medicaid beneficiaries understood the value of their insurance coverage, take personal responsibility and make wise purchases, officials said.

The program will be reviewed annually by federal health officials.

The HELP Act went into effect Jan. 1, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, the state’s largest insurer, as its administrator.

Medicaid expansion was a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012 made it optional for states.

Jessica Rhoades with intergovernmental relations in the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said Tuesday that before the program started there were 151,000 people uninsured in Montana.

Rhoades said 55 percent of the new enrollees are female, 46 percent are 19-34 years old, 27 percent are 35-49 and 27 percent are 50-64.

In a February 2013 memo to the state Legislature from the Montana Budget and Policy Center, a nonprofit group that provides analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues, it was estimated that about 20,000, American Indians in Montana would be newly eligible for the program.

On Tuesday, Rhoades noted that about 4,600 American Indians had enrolled in the program, making up about 12 percent of the enrollees.

It also noted that 57 percent of American Indians in Montana between the ages of 18-64 are uninsured, and would be the population most affected by Medicaid expansion. In Cascade County, 3,340 people are newly enrolled in the program, which is about 4 percent of the 2014 population estimate. In Chouteau County, 156 people, or 2.65 percent of the population enrolled. In Teton County, 247 people, or about 4 percent of the population enrolled. In Hill County. 779 or 4.7 percent of the population and in Judith Basin, 59 people, or about 3 percent of the population enrolled.

Golden Valley County seemed to have the highest percentage with 7.98 percent, or 68 residents enrolled. Wibaux County was the lowest with 10 of its 1,121 residents enrolling, which is 0.89 percent.