HELENA — At a rally outside the Montana State Capitol on Wednesday, advocates made the argument that Montana's Medicaid expansion program has already been a success for the state, and that state lawmakers should keep it going.
Those in attendance chanted slogans like “Montana loves Medicaid,” and “Lift the sunset,” calling for the state Legislature to remove the June 30 sunset date, when the program is currently set to expire.
“We’re gathered here, of course, today, because the health care for nearly 80,000 Montanans is at risk,” said Alice Boyer, deputy director of Catalyst Montana.
Catalyst Montana, the Montana Budget and Policy Center, the Montana Hospitals Association and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network were among the groups supporting the rally.
Among the speakers was Joel Rosette, CEO of the Rocky Boy Health Center in Box Elder. He said he’s seen the importance of Medicaid expansion for tribal members and people in rural Montana.
“It's worked,” Rosette told MTN. “Look at the numbers, look at the data. We’ve got better communities, we’ve got better resources for rural communities. We're a healthier Montana than we were ten years ago.”
Rosette said the Indian Health Service remains consistently underfunded, and that Medicaid expansion has reduced the uncompensated care RBHC has to provide. He says they’ve been able to add specialty care they didn’t have before.
“Previously you were unable to get a mammogram, to get a colonoscopy – all those things, it took years,” he said during the rally. “Now they’re happening when they need to happen: before they’re serious problems.”
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Chelsia Rice, co-owner of the Montana Book Company, says she has been able to provide her full-time employees with health insurance, but that Medicaid expansion has been an important option for those who aren’t working full time.
“We cannot go back to a world where our workers and our community are left without health care coverage,” said Rice.
Last week, at their Business Days at the Capitol event, the Montana Chamber of Commerce identified “preserving Medicaid access” as one of their top priorities for the legislative session. President and CEO Todd O’Hair told MTN many businesses see Medicaid expansion as a key factor in maintaining a healthy and reliable workforce.
“We see a lot of part-time people that have to take care of an elderly parent at home, have to stay at home to take care of their kids, are single – so working, want to work, want to contribute, but they need that access to Medicaid to be able to fill that gap,” he said.
O’Hair said the program is also important for economic development in rural Montana, especially in communities that he says haven’t seen the same fast growth as other parts of the state.
“They’re struggling to retain the businesses they have in those communities,” he said. “Adding another layer of stress on those communities by taking away services that have been provided through Medicaid expansion does not help those communities grow.”
Medicaid expansion was always expected to be a major issue during the 2025 legislative session, and the first bills dealing with it directly are now starting to appear. At the rally, Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, said she’s ready to introduce a bill, backed by the Democratic caucus, that would not only extend Medicaid expansion but also remove the community engagement provisions in the current law and restore 12-month continuous eligibility.
Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, who sponsored the original Medicaid expansion bill in 2015 and its renewal in 2019, has said he plans to bring a bill that would simply remove the sunset date. He told MTN Wednesday that he expects to have it introduced in the next few days and he hopes it will receive a hearing as soon as next week.
However, Republicans are still split on whether to continue expansion, with some considering it an unneeded entitlement program. A Senate committee is scheduled to hold a hearing next week on Senate Bill 62, sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, which would begin phasing the program out, by closing it to new applicants after this year.
