New study by “researchers at the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University” shows “that more than 133,000 children were covered by Montana Medicaid programs in April 2023, the month that redeterminations began. But by December, enrollment numbers had dropped to about 97,800”.
This report goes on to note that in February 2020, before the pandemic started which resulted in the Medicaid expansion that’s now being rolled back, “Montana had roughly 115,000 children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The December [2023] enrollment figure of about 97,800 shows a roughly 15% reduction.”
Bottom line, Governor Greg Gianforte’s overly aggressive Medicaid reduction has resulted in 17,200 of Montana’s most vulnerable kids losing health care coverage, compared even to pre-pandemic numbers.
In a Thursday press conference, a researcher noted “Montana’s 15% reduction, the most of any state, as a ‘very troubling distinction.’ The next highest-ranking states of Idaho, South Dakota and Arkansas had 6% reductions, less than half the decrease seen in Montana.”
Montana Free Press has the story