Blue Cross says ready to handle Medicaid expansion

HELENA – A state panel was told Tuesday that the third-party administrator for the state’s new expanded Medicaid program is ready to roll when the program kicks into gear on Jan. 1.

And officials were told that 10,500 Montanans have enrolled in the program so far.

Mike Frank, chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, told members of the Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership Act Oversight Committee that his agency has been working hard for when the program goes live in 2016.

He said they have entered into contracts with 75 percent of the state’s facilities, adding he was “confident we’re ready to roll.”

Frank also said the call center was opened and identification cards were ready.

“Overall, I think we’re making great progress in a short amount of time,” he said.

However, an elected official told the panel during the public comment period that the product the state was offering stood in contrast to the intent of Senate Bill 405, which approved the expanded Medicaid program.

Rep. Tom Burnett, R-Bozeman, said requirements for the program had been watered down and other aspects had been modified. During a break in the meeting, Burnett said he was considering polling fellow lawmakers, which would make it the third poll for state officials in about a month.

SB 405, the HELP Act, hotly debated in the 2015 legislative session, accepts federal funds to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income people and require them to pay premiums each month as well as co-payments for certain services. Enrollees must participate in a workplace assessment survey to help people obtain better-paying jobs.

On Nov. 2, Montana became the 30th state to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Steve Bullock announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a federal waiver.

Montana’s program is the only one in the nation that will be administered by an outside company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, officials said. The program’s federal approval comes with the condition that it is required to have 90 percent of health care facilities and 80 percent of physicians in its network.

The governor’s office has estimated that 70,000 people or more would be eligible for coverage under the expansion, but legislative fiscal analysts predicted about 45,700 would actually participate over the next four years.

Jessica Rhoades, intergovernmental relations person for the Department of Public Health and Human Services, told the panel that 10,500 people have enrolled in the program so far.

Jesse Laslovich, chief legal counsel for the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, said he was recently part of a tour by his agency of five reservations and various hospitals to explain the new program.

“Attendance was not what we wanted it to be, but it’s a start,” he told the committee.

He said there are plans to go back.

Burnett said he was considering polling the 150 members of the state Legislature to determine if the state was following the intent of SB 405.

Lawmakers were recently asked their opinion on Senate Bill 289, known as the “dark money bill” and whether the commissioner of political practices has OK’d campaign reform legislation some have said is vague and overly broad. Those poll results are still outstanding.

On Monday, the Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee on Monday certified results of a poll of the state Legislature that found that a majority believe the Department of Revenue acted contrary to the legislative intent of a state Senate bill when it proposed exempting religious schools from a from a tax credit program.

Prior to this, the last time a poll of the Legislature was conducted was in 2005. State law requires a poll if 20 or more lawmakers object to a proposed rule while the Legislature is out of session.

Burnett said he could easily find 20 lawmakers to support doing a poll.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.