Montana
Organizations request Montana health department investment following Medicaid redetermination • Idaho Capital Sun
Thousands of Montanans lost Medicaid coverage, not because they weren’t eligible, but due to “unapproachable and unmanageable” administrative barriers at the state health department.
That’s according to a letter signed by 66 national and state organizations sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte last week asking him to include money to add additional staff to the Department of Public Health and Human Services and update outdated software, among other requests, in his budget proposal for the 2027 biennium.
The Medicaid redetermination process took place following a freeze on disenrollments during the Covid-19 pandemic, and took a total 135,000 enrollees off of Medicaid. The state’s redetermination dashboard cites the most frequent reason for disenrolling as a lack of correspondence with the department. Many former enrollees who may still be eligible now have to apply for Medicaid again for health coverage, with longer-than-usual wait times and Medicaid providers struggling to make ends meet as applications are processed.
Health department in preliminary budget planning
The letter suggested consumer advisory groups, focus groups, surveys, and end-user testing to improve the state’s communication with clients – and said health department staffers should use plain language with clients to help reduce delays.
The state health department previously told the Daily Montanan it meets all federal standards for processing both redeterminations and new applications. Spokesperson for the department Jon Ebelt said Monday it is taking the requests in the letter under consideration in its budget planning.
“The letter makes specific budget requests, and at this time, DPHHS is in the preliminary stages of the executive budget planning process for the upcoming legislative session,” Ebelt said in a statement. “DPHHS appreciates the feedback and suggestions included in the letter and will consider them.”
The letter was addressed to Gianforte, but the Governor’s Office on Monday deferred to DPHHS in response to questions. DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton, as well as Human Services Executive Director Jessie Counts, Medicaid Chief Financial Manager Gene Hermanson and Director of Budget and Program Planning Ryan Osmundson were copied on the letter as well.
Jackie Semmens with the Montana Budget and Policy Center, told legislators Thursday the organizations who signed onto the letter included food pantries, healthcare providers and faith organizations – places people turn to when they “can’t get the benefits they qualify for in a timely manner.”
“These organizations see people coming to food pantries when they are forced to choose between paying out of pocket for prescription or feeding their family because their Medicaid determination is delayed,” Semmens said. “These 60 plus organizations have seen firsthand how strapped the department has been during the past year, which is why they have joined together to ask the governor to improve access to public assistance.”
Organizations include the Montana Food Bank Network, the Fort Peck Tribal Health Department, Montana Head Start Association and the American Heart Association.
The letter, sent June 17, said the health department cuts made in 2017 led to 19 public assistance offices across the state to close and resulted in pressure on the staff that was left.
Medicaid unwinding exacerbated these existing issues, the letter said, and “highlighted the ways in which Montana’s safety net is outdated, inaccessible, and cumbersome for those most in need.” The organizations asked that as the governor’s administration develops its 2027 biennial budget, they invest and modernize access to Montana’s safety net services.
Prior to each legislative session, the governor releases a budget with proposals for spending for the upcoming two fiscal years. The legislature ultimately has the power to appropriate funds, but the budget is a public statement of the investments the executive office wishes to make and approve. The legislature will meet again in January 2025.
Letter: state website is hard to navigate, more in-person assistance options needed
The organizations want to see more options for in-person assistance, which could include the reopening of rural public assistance offices. Applications completed in person are less likely to contain errors, the letter said, and would reduce procedural delays.
“In-person assistance is an essential lifeline for elderly, disabled, and rural individuals,” the organizations said.
The state health department’s website to apply for safety net services like Medicaid or food assistance is hard to navigate, the letter said, and during the unwinding process, phone lines were jammed with people having to wait hours to speak to someone. The organizations believe the solution to the problems is better staffing at the department, although their letter did not specify how many more employees they believe are needed.
“With rural Montanans relying on these means of application, Montana should make significant investments to improve their functionality,” the letter read.
The letter said understaffing was what led to procedural delays during the Medicaid unwinding. Ebelt previously listed limited staff as one reason for Medicaid delays, along with prioritization for individuals with current inactive coverage as well as verifying previously unreported resources. He said the state meets the federal standard of paying 90 percent of “clean claims” (claims not needing additional verification) within 30 days, and 99 percent of “clean claims” in 90 days.
About 9% of cases are still pending eligibility, Counts told legislators, translating to a little under 20,000 cases.
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: [email protected]. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.
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It’s the talk of the town this week — powerful winds ripped the roof off Lincoln Elementary School on Sunday, leaving students, teachers, and residents in shock.
The incident has sparked concern among homeowners who are now worried about how such weather damage could impact their own homes—and what their insurance would cover.
According to Tauna Locatelli, owner of Advantage Insurance, most insurance policies have a set deductible for things like fire or theft, but wind and hail damage deductibles are often much higher, or even based on a percentage of a property’s value.
Quentin Shores reports – watch the video here:
Wind damage highlights insurance challenges for Montana homeowners
“Right now our industry is going through a really challenging time, especially when it comes to wind and hail in Montana. Several carriers are going to a standard ‘all peril’ deductible for everything other than wind and hail. So, it could be $1,000 for all but wind and hail, $2,500 wind and hail,” Locatelli explained.
A deductible is the amount homeowners must pay before insurance covers the rest. For wind and hail, that deductible can be steep.
“Some companies are going 1 or 2% of a coverage value, so that’s the building value. If it’s insured for $500,000 and you have a 1% deductible, you’re looking at a $5,000 deductible for wind and hail, which is what we get in Montana,” Locatelli said.
It’s important for homeowners to know their deductible—if repairs cost less than the deductible, insurance won’t pay anything.
Filing small claims can also impact your rates; Locatelli said, “Because if you have a $3,000 patch job claim and you have a $5,000 deductible, you really don’t want to file that because you’re not going to get anything in. That claim is going to follow your insurance record for five years.”
Age of property factors in as well. If you have an older roof, insurance may not fully cover its replacement.
“You’ve now lived half the roof life. Well, insurance is about indemnity and putting you back in the same condition you were in before the loss. You can’t put a 16-year-old roof on a home, so at 16 years, they’ll now pay 50% of that roof instead of 100% because it’s already lived half of its life. And then it drops each year as it goes by,” Locatelli added.
The bottom line: Keep your property maintained, review your insurance policy, and think carefully before filing a claim—especially as Montana faces more intense weather.
HELENA — On Monday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter to the City of Helena claiming the municipality is not in compliance with the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” The letter comes just under a month after the State of Montana launched an investigation into a city resolution on Helena Police policy and Helena’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement.
In the letter, Knudsen laid out the ways he believes the city’s resolution violated state law. The attorney general gave Helena 15 days to respond or reverse the policy. If the city does not comply, his office will pursue legal action.
“Helena’s resolution appears to contain blatant violations of this law,” wrote Knudsen.
MTN News
On January 26, 2026, the City of Helena adopted a resolution clarifying when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials. The vote was 4 to 1. The Helena commission seats and the mayor are elected in non-partisan races.
In the letter, Knudsen alleges the resolution established “a broad sanctuary city policy” that seeks to protect every illegal immigrant, regardless of whether the individual had committed a serious crime or not. The state further claims the resolution gives illegal immigrants “special privileges” in plea deals and establishes a “free-for-all policy” where a police officer can request the unmasking of Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.
Knudsen has requested that the City of Helena, in their response, specifically describe in detail how the resolution complies with Montana law, provide emails and correspondence from city staff and the commission regarding the resolution.
Helena City manager Alana Lake told MTN in a statement: “The City of Helena is aware of the issues being raised by the Attorney General’s Office and is reviewing the matter. While we cannot discuss the details of a potential legal issue, the City is committed to transparency and compliance with the law. The City takes these matters seriously and will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities while remaining focused on serving our community.”
MTN News 
Passed in 2021, Montana House Bill 200 prohibits a state agency or local government from implementing any policy that prevents employees or departments from communicating with federal agencies regarding immigration or citizenship status for lawful purposes. It also states governments must comply with immigration detainer requests if they are lawfully made.
HB 200 was backed by Republicans and passed with only Republican votes. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on March 31, 2021.
Passage of the resolution by the Helena City Commission has drawn ire from conservative voices in Montana politics and on the national level.
MTN News
The resolution said the commission supported the Helena Police Department avoiding “committing its resources to federal action for which it has no authority,” such as entering into an agreement with the federal government to directly enforce immigration laws. Under federal law, immigration enforcement is conducted by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, state and local governments can voluntarily enter into 287 (g) agreements with the federal government that allow them to enforce immigration laws.
The commission further supported HPD’s policy not to stop, detain, or arrest a person solely on suspected violations of immigration law, including assisting other agencies in an arrest based solely on immigration law.
DEEPER LOOK: Helena has seen a growing debate over ICE and local police involvement
In the resolution, the commission also supported an HPD officer, using their own discretion, requesting the identification and unmasking of a Department of Homeland Security Officer if the HPD officer “feels it will not be interfering with the actions of federal officers exercising their jurisdiction.”
“This adversarial relationship by local law enforcement toward federal officers itself undermines public safety and forces immigration officers to fear for their safety when they are simply carrying out their lawful duties,” wrote Knudsen.
The resolution further supports the City of Helena’s policy not to consider immigration consequences in a plea agreement with a defendant.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
The commission also supports the City of Helena not disclosing any sensitive information about any person – including immigration status, sexual orientation, or social security number – except as required by law.
“This is a restriction that directly conflicts with Montana’s prohibition on sanctuary jurisdictions, specifically ‘sending to, receiving from, exchanging with, or maintaining for a federal, state, or local government entity information regarding a person’s citizenship or immigration status for a lawful purpose,’” the attorney general wrote.
If a government is found to be violating Montana’s law banning “sanctuary cities”, the state could fine them $10,000 every five days, prevent them from receiving new grants from the state, and have their projects with the state re-prioritized. A government in violation can avoid penalties by becoming compliant with the law within 14 days of being notified of the violation.
Read the full letter from the Montana Attorney General to the City of Helena:
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