Leading Democrats in the Montana House of Representatives this week formally requested records on Medicaid disenrollment after the state health director resisted a similar request from a legislative committee.
Last month, Department of Public Health and Human Services Secretary Charlie Brereton told vice chairs of legislative committees that the department did not have the staff time to respond to detailed data requests in the time frame requested by lawmakers.
Rep. S.J. Howell, D-Missoula, who chaired the meeting, agreed that health department staffing is a barrier. But Howell also said committee members need information to answer questions such as whether Montanans who are eligible to get health insurance through the state have health insurance.
This week, invoking the Montana Constitution’s “right to know,” Minority Leader Kim Abbott sent a letter to the Department of Health reiterating her request for data, saying lawmakers need the information and that they have a right to it. I explained a reason.
“The data requested by the committee is essential for the public to fully understand the impact that your department’s policies and procedures are having on health care in Montana,” Abbott wrote.
“Scarce data” provided by the department shows more than 120,000 Montanans have lost coverage, but little further information is available, Helena’s Abbott said. But she said the process the health department began last spring “will cause lasting harm to our state’s families, small businesses and health care systems.”
In his letter, Abbott criticized the way the Department of Health handled the Medicaid redetermination. Many medical experts said the months-long delays in paperwork were putting seniors and children at risk of worsening health conditions.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid also expressed concern in August about large numbers of people losing their coverage when it set out to determine who in Montana had state insurance and was still eligible for Medicaid.
“You have refused to conduct this redetermination process in a responsible manner that minimizes loss of coverage,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Brereton. “Now you are refusing to take responsibility for the damage your department has caused. Your attempt to excuse this behavior is unacceptable. If a private company were to operate this way, it would be wrong They’re probably looking for a new CEO.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said she had no idea when the department would provide the information, whether the data had already been provided, or whether department leaders had asked staff to do so before embarking on at least some major projects last year. He did not answer questions about whether he had tried to increase the number of people.
“At no point have Department of Health officials said they would not provide the requested information,” Department of Health spokesman John Ebert said in an email.
In a meeting last month, Brereton said his department was “in limbo” and wanted to protect his team’s time. He said spring would be a good time to discuss data requests from the Committee on Children, Families, Health and Human Services.
Abbott’s letter requests a “word-for-word” copy of information previously requested by the commission, including the number of children and adults whose certifications have expired, been renewed or withheld. Number of Native American children and adults who have lost or have insurance renewed or on hold. Case coverage status by county.
“This was a very fussy project,” Abbott said by phone. “There are a lot of people who were caught up in it and hurt. We absolutely need more accurate information about who those people are and where they are.”
On Thursday, the Department of Administration acknowledged by email that it had received the records request, saying, “These requests will be processed in the order they are received and within the deadlines established by Montana’s SB 232. We will contact you.” .
Senate Bill 232 provides a deadline for state agencies to respond to records requests, typically within 90 days.
