Montana
In Montana, conservative groups see a chance to kill Medicaid expansion • Daily Montanan
Conservative groups are working to undermine support for Montana’s Medicaid expansion in hopes the state will abandon the program. The rollback would be the first in the decade since the Affordable Care Act began allowing states to cover more people with low incomes.
Montana’s expansion, which insures roughly 78,800 people, is set to expire next year unless the legislature and governor opt to renew it. Opponents see a rare opportunity to eliminate Medicaid expansion in one of the 40 states that have approved it.
The Foundation for Government Accountability and Paragon Health Institute, think tanks funded by conservative groups, told Montana lawmakers in September that the program’s enrollment and costs are bloated and that the overloaded system harms access to care for the most vulnerable.
Manatt, a consulting firm that has studied Montana’s Medicaid program for years, then presented legislators with the opposite take, stating that more people have access to critical treatment because of Medicaid expansion. Those who support the program say the conservative groups’ arguments are flawed.
State Rep. Bob Keenan, a Republican who chairs the Health and Human Services Interim Budget Committee, which heard the dueling arguments, said the decision to kill or continue Medicaid expansion “comes down to who believes what.”
The expansion program extends Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or nearly $21,000 a year for a single person. Before, the program was largely reserved for children, people with disabilities, and pregnant women. The federal government covers 90% of the expansion cost while states pick up the rest.
National Medicaid researchers have said Montana is the only state considering shelving its expansion in 2025. Others could follow.
New Hampshire legislators in 2023 extended the state’s expansion for seven years and this year blocked legislation to make it permanent. Utah has provisions to scale back or end its Medicaid expansion program if federal contributions drop.
FGA and Paragon have long argued against Medicaid expansion. Tax records show their funders include some large organizations pushing conservative agendas. That includes the 85 Fund, which is backed by Leonard Leo, a conservative activist best known for his efforts to fill the courts with conservative judges.
The president of Paragon Health Institute is Brian Blase, who served as a special assistant to former President Donald Trump and is a visiting fellow at FGA, which quotes him as praising the organization for its “conservative policy wins” across states. He was also announced in 2019 as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, which was behind the Project 2025 presidential blueprint, which proposes restricting Medicaid eligibility and benefits.
Paragon spokesperson Anthony Wojtkowiak said its work isn’t directed by any political party or donor. He said Paragon is a nonpartisan nonprofit and responds to policymakers interested in learning more about its analyses.
“In the instance of Montana, Paragon does not have a role in the debate around Medicaid expansion, other than the testimony,” he said.
FGA declined an interview request. As early as last year, the organization began calling on Montana lawmakers to reject reauthorizing the program. It also released a video this year of Montana Republican Rep. Jane Gillette saying the state should allow its expansion to expire.
Gillette requested the FGA and Paragon presentations to state lawmakers, according to Keenan. He said Democratic lawmakers responded by requesting the Manatt presentation.
Manatt’s research was contracted by the Montana Healthcare Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health of Montanans. Its latest report also received support from the state’s hospital association.
The Montana Healthcare Foundation is a funder of KFF Health News, an independent national newsroom that is part of the health information nonprofit KFF.
Bryce Ward, a Montana health economist who studies Medicaid expansion, said some of the antiexpansion arguments don’t add up.
For example, Hayden Dublois, FGA’s data and analytics director, told Montana lawmakers that in 2022 72% of able-bodied adults on Montana’s Medicaid program weren’t working. If that data refers to adults without disabilities, that would come to 97,000 jobless Medicaid enrollees, Ward said. He said that’s just shy of the state’s total population who reported no income at the time, most of whom didn’t qualify for Medicaid.
“It’s simply not plausible,” Ward said.
A Manatt report, citing federal survey data, showed 66% of Montana adults on Medicaid have jobs and an additional 11% attend school.
FGA didn’t respond to a request for its data, which Dublois said in the committee hearing came through a state records request.
Jon Ebelt, a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, also declined to comment. As of late October, a KFF Health News records request for the data the state provided FGA was pending.
In his presentation before Montana lawmakers, Blase said the most vulnerable people on Medicaid are worse off due to expansion as resources pool toward new enrollees.
“Some people got more medical care; some people got less medical care,” Blase said.
Reports released by the state show its standard monthly reimbursement per Medicaid enrollee remained relatively flat for seniors and adults who are blind or have disabilities.
Drew Gonshorowski, a researcher with Paragon, cited data from a federal Medicaid commission that shows that, overall, states spend more on adults who qualified through the expansion programs than they do on others on Medicaid. That data also shows states spend more on seniors and people with disabilities than on the broader adult population insured by Medicaid, which is also true in Montana.
Nationally, states with expansions spend more money on people enrolled in Medicaid across eligibility groups compared with nonexpansion states, according to a KFF report.
Zoe Barnard, a senior adviser for Manatt who worked for Montana’s health department for nearly 10 years, said not only has the state’s uninsured rate dropped by 30% since it expanded Medicaid, but also some specialty services have grown as more people access care.
FGA has long lobbied nonexpansion states, including Texas, Kansas, and Mississippi, to leave Medicaid expansion alone. In February, an FGA representative testified in support of an Idaho bill that included an expansion repeal trigger if the state couldn’t meet a set of rules, including instituting work requirements and capping enrollment. The bill failed.
Paragon produced an analysis titled “Resisting the Wave of Medicaid Expansion,” and Blase testified to Texas lawmakers this year on the value of continuing to keep expansion out of the Lone Star State.
On the federal level, Paragon recently proposed a Medicaid overhaul plan to phase out the federal 90% matching rate for expansion enrollees, among other changes to cut spending. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has countered that such ideas would leave more people without care.
In Montana, Republicans are defending a supermajority they didn’t have when a bipartisan group passed the expansion in 2015 and renewed it in 2019. Also unlike before, there’s now a Republican in the governor’s office. Gov. Greg Gianforte is up for reelection and has said the safety net is important but shouldn’t get too big.
Keenan, the Republican lawmaker, predicted the expansion debate won’t be clear-cut when legislators convene in January.
“Medicaid expansion is not a yes or no. It’s going to be a negotiated decision,” he said.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
GREAT FALLS — REAL Montana, short for Resource Education & Agriculture Leadership, is a two-year leadership development program through Montana State University Extension designed to strengthen the future of the state’s natural resource industries. The program combines in-state seminars, national travel, and an international study tour to expose participants to a wide range of perspectives.
Madison Collier reports – watch the video here:
Montana Ag Network: REAL group highlights international industry
The mission is simple: build a network of informed leaders who can help advance Montana agriculture and natural resource industries in a rapidly changing world.
A global classroom
This year, participants traveled across Morocco, visiting farms, research centers, and food production facilities to better understand how agriculture operates on a global scale.
According to REAL Montana Co-Director Tara Becken, the trip is about more than just travel, it’s about perspective.
“We were able to see how Montana commodities fit into the global picture,” said Becken, who also attended the trip. “Wheat from Montana’s Golden Triangle ends up on a plate on the other side of the world.”
Participants explored everything from citrus production to international trade, gaining firsthand insight into how food systems connect across continents.
Similar challenges, different landscapes
While Morocco’s environment and crops differ from those in Montana, participants said the challenges facing producers still felt familiar.
“Even though we’re worlds away, our challenges are very, very similar,” Becken said, pointing to issues like drought, labor shortages, and market pressures.
For Alice Miller, a participant in the program, those similarities stood out immediately.
“They’ve been dealing with drought. They’re working through input costs and labor… those are the same conversations we’re having here,” Miller said.
From farm to global table
One of the most impactful moments for participants came from seeing food production up close and realizing how connected it is to back home.
“Eating oranges right off the trees and then thinking about how that food ends up on our grocery store shelves… it just hits different when you’re there,” Miller said.
The experience reinforced a broader takeaway: Montana agriculture plays a role far beyond state lines.
“Montana really is feeding the world. That’s not just a phrase, that’s a reality,” Miller said.
Building the next generation of leaders
The international trip is just one part of the REAL Montana program, which includes eight in-state seminars and a national policy-focused trip to Washington, D.C.
Participants are selected from across Montana’s natural resource industries, including agriculture, energy, and forestry, with the goal of building a diverse network of future leaders.
Program leaders say those experiences are critical as the industry faces ongoing challenges, from global trade to shifting consumer demands.
“Unless we can understand the world around us, it’s really hard to tackle our own problems,” Becken said.
As the current class prepares to graduate, the focus now shifts to applying those lessons back home.
“We hope they go out and make a difference for the state of Montana and their communities,” Becken said.
Looking ahead
Applications for the next REAL Montana class are open through March 31. The program targets individuals working in Montana’s natural resource industries who are interested in growing as leaders and making an impact in their communities.
For Miller, the experience is one she encourages others to pursue.
“It’s an investment you won’t regret making, in yourself and in your industry,” she said.
The Montana Farmers Union is now offering a scholarship to help offset the cost of participation for eligible members accepted into the program. The support is designed to make leadership development more accessible to those working in agriculture and natural resource industries.
More information on scholarship opportunities and the application process can be found on the REAL Montana website.
State House considers reforms that allowed greater variety of construction in Big Sky State
Michigan could follow Montana’s lead after state House members introduced a bipartisan package of bills aimed at making housing less costly.
“The bipartisan Housing Readiness Package modernizes our development processes to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, making housing more affordable and available across the state,” according to a press release from the House Republican caucus. “This is about ensuring Michigan is prepared for growth and that more residents have access to safe, stable homes.”
The package draws on ideas Montana successfully enacted in 2023 and 2025 to ease the state’s housing shortage. It includes Michigan House bills 5529, 5530, 5531, 5532, 5581, 5582, 5583, 5584 and 5585. The package is intended to restrain cities and counties from restricting accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and other non-single-family units; to limit protests and impact studies on developments; and to reduce local red tape.
Housing costs in Michigan have almost doubled in recent years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Michigan has exceeded the pace of housing inflation found in other states.
The average price of homes in the state was about 75% of the national average in 2012, but it is roughly 82% of the average today, according to Jarrett Skorup, vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Inflation, interest rates, and rising construction costs have increased housing prices, Skorup told Michigan Capitol Confidential, but local government red tape is still making things worse.
“A lot of this is because of dumb, unnecessary, big-government policies at the local level,” Skorup told CapCon in an email. “This bill package protects the private property rights of citizens in a way similar to what Montana and many other states have done. It is good policy that will help people afford to live where they want.”
Montana made changes to legalize duplexes, allow accessory dwelling units, open commercial zones to housing, and permit taller buildings that can accommodate more housing units.
The laws faced a legal challenge, but the Montana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the bipartisan legislation.
“There are a lot of similarities between what is being proposed in Michigan and what we accomplished in Montana,” Forrest Mandeville, a Republican state senator from Stillwater County, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.
Montana enacted laws that call for freedom to build duplexes and accessory dwelling units by right (with no need for extra approvals) in many cities. The Big Sky State also streamlined review processes and simplified public participation.
“These reforms were necessitated by a housing market that was seeing prices skyrocket and existing zoning that created a lot of single-family-only development in large areas,” Mandeville said.
A broad coalition supported the changes: builders, real estate agents, free-market advocates and some local government groups, Mandeville told CapCon. Housing prices and rents have stabilized since the legislation was enacted.
“We tried to get government out of the way to encourage building without red tape,” Sen. Jeremy Trebas, a Cascade County Republican, told CapCon in an email about the housing situation in Bozeman. With a population of 60,000 and slow growth, the city faced a housing crunch, with a large inventory of aging and obsolete buildings. Expensive housing and taxes, Trebas said, were driving people to move to Washington, California and other states.
“If we could change land-use policy, encourage development of higher density like duplexes as infill, allow for housing in commercial zones (as it was a 100 years ago), reduce minimum lot sizes, and allow by-right accessory dwelling units and such, we could let the market work to produce density and supply without spending government dollars to incentivize it,” Trebas said.
Opponents of Montana’s reforms expressed concerns about more people moving in from out-of-state, said Trebas. He countered that Montana natives were hurt by high costs that price upcoming generations out of the housing market.
The buzz over the Miley Cyrus special has also led to a surge of renewed interest in the show’s popular soundtracks
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Hannah Montana celebrated its 20th anniversary this week with a brand new special on Disney+ that reunited Miley Cyrus and company for a look back at the nostalgic Disney Channel series. While the special unveiled plenty of surprises (including a new song and celebrity cameos), the buzz over Hannah‘s anniversary has also led to a surge of new interest in the show’s popular soundtrack.
Hannah Montana spawned five studio albums, including a soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie. It also led to Best of Both Worlds Concert, a live album that featured Cyrus performing both in character as Hannah and under her own name. All of the albums were originally released on CD, though vinyl pressings of each release came later as well. Three of the albums debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and all of them were later certified gold or higher by the RIAA.
Now, a number of the albums have returned to the bestsellers list, with four Hannah LPs currently sitting in the Top Ten of Amazon’s soundtracks chart. Here’s a look at the trending releases and how to buy them online.
Hannah Montana [Green Splatter LP]
This Hannah Montana vinyl has returned to the top ten of Amazon’s overall soundtracks chart. This is the soundtrack to season one of the Disney Channel show in an Amazon-exclusive “green splatter” colorway. While the original soundtrack was released in October 2006, this vinyl edition was released this past January ahead of the show’s 20th anniversary.
![Best Of Hannah Montana [Clear LP]](https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/best-of-hannah-montana-lp.jpg?w=1024)
Best Of Hannah Montana [Clear LP]
Amazon’s bestseller is this “Best Of” LP, which comes in an exclusive limited-edition purple vinyl colorway. First released in 2011, the album was later made available on vinyl in 2019. Hot off the 20th anniversary special, the LP has returned to number one on Amazon’s Disney soundtracks chart.
Hannah Montana: The Movie, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Lavender Eco-Mix 2 LP]
This two-LP set features all the songs from Hannah Montana: The Movie, which hit theaters in 2009. The track list includes hit songs from the original film like “The Climb,” “Butterfly Fly Away” and “Hoedown Throwdown.” It also includes the 2009 “movie mix” of “The Best of Both Worlds.” The discs come in a lavender colorway inspired by the colors in the show logo.
![Hannah Montana 2 (Original Soundtrack)[Color Splatter LP]](https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/hannah-montana-2.jpg?w=1024)
Hannah Montana 2 [Color Splatter LP]
This LP features songs from season two of the Disney Channel series, including hits like “We Got the Party,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Life’s What You Make It.” Amazon has this available on a special “color splatter” vinyl.
All of the above vinyl releases are part of limited-edition drops that are exclusive to Amazon.
Hannah Montana – Hannah Montana 3 LP
Urban Outfitters, meantime, has this tie-dye edition of the Hannah Montana season three soundtrack on vinyl. From Walt Disney Records, the LP gets you 14 songs on a groovy, 70s-inspired disc.
Need somewhere to play your new Hannah Montana vinyl? Amazon has this light pink record player on sale for under $60 right now as part of the site’s Big Spring Sale event.
Victrola Journey II Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player
From popular turntable makers Victrola, the Victrola Journey II is the latest version of the brand’s bestselling suitcase record player, which offers a portable way to take your records on the go. This unit features a three-speed turntable, built-in speakers (with “enhanced bass”) and both Bluetooth capabilities and headphone outputs.
A star-making vehicle for Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2011. You can stream every Hannah Montana episode and Hannah Montana: The Movie online through Disney+.
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